The Economist, 25 July 2009, ran two items on local newspapers: The town without news (p. 25) and True grit (p. 26).
"An advertising slump has hit local newspapers much harder than national papers or other media [...] local papers have lost their grip on property and car advertising. Most painful has been the disappearance of job ads. In July 1999 an edition of the [Bedworth] Echo carried 17 pages of job advertisements. The final issue had one-fifth of one page."
"The Echo carried reports of school plays [...] local sports results and other humble fare. It also reinforced a sense of community. [...] It is not clear where the debate will carry on. The internet is undermining local newspapers much more effectively than it is supporting alternatives."
Falling back to national coverage of local areas will not be as detailed, and those most in need of local information may be those without an internet connection.
Newsletters and leaflets are appearing to take the place of the newspaper, and on-line local news is expected to improve as a place for user generated content. "As local newspapers fail, we may learn that their real value was less as a check on politicians than simply as a forum for casual conversation---a place where a town can talk to itself."
Of the local news papers that are surviving, they "are successful because they retain the best characteristics of their past. They have low overheads and levels of debt. They cover the local news and politics which matter to people. They have a belief in themselves that, some say, results in high staff satisfaction and low employee turnover. And they are often in well-off areas where readers---holidaymakers and the retiref---have time to read newspapers and are unlikely to be lured away by the internet. Above all, their proprietor editors have the will to battle through."
"An advertising slump has hit local newspapers much harder than national papers or other media [...] local papers have lost their grip on property and car advertising. Most painful has been the disappearance of job ads. In July 1999 an edition of the [Bedworth] Echo carried 17 pages of job advertisements. The final issue had one-fifth of one page."
"The Echo carried reports of school plays [...] local sports results and other humble fare. It also reinforced a sense of community. [...] It is not clear where the debate will carry on. The internet is undermining local newspapers much more effectively than it is supporting alternatives."
Falling back to national coverage of local areas will not be as detailed, and those most in need of local information may be those without an internet connection.
Newsletters and leaflets are appearing to take the place of the newspaper, and on-line local news is expected to improve as a place for user generated content. "As local newspapers fail, we may learn that their real value was less as a check on politicians than simply as a forum for casual conversation---a place where a town can talk to itself."
Of the local news papers that are surviving, they "are successful because they retain the best characteristics of their past. They have low overheads and levels of debt. They cover the local news and politics which matter to people. They have a belief in themselves that, some say, results in high staff satisfaction and low employee turnover. And they are often in well-off areas where readers---holidaymakers and the retiref---have time to read newspapers and are unlikely to be lured away by the internet. Above all, their proprietor editors have the will to battle through."
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