Local
newspapers play an important social role in our communities, reporting on local
issues which would otherwise go unnoticed by the national press and holding
local services and politicians up to close scrutiny. In his investigation of
the British press Lord Leveson warned that their demise would be a huge setback
for democracy. However, despite their position in the heart of the community,
sales of local newspapers are in free-fall with the latest figures showing a
10% annual decrease.
Is it now time
for a re-think into the way that local media interacts with society? As social
media and citizen journalism become ever-more present in everyday social,
political and economic interactions, how can local media make better use of new
technology and innovative practice, and harness crowd-sourced and civic
platforms to inspire a collective exchange?
In partnership
with the Carnegie UK Trust, panellists were asked to explore how local media
currently interacts with public life, and to consider innovative ways in which
communities can take control of and transform the social, political and
economic spheres through ground-breaking citizen journalism. They were also
invited to discuss the challenges for local media in maintaining the ethical
standards in reporting and governance that have singled it out from much of the
criticism levelled at the national press, as well as to examine how local media
can continue to enrich and uphold our democratic system.
The panel:
- Martyn Evans, Chief
Executive Carnegie Trust UK (chair)
- Helen Goodman MP,
Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport
- Geoff Mulgan, Chief
Executive, NESTA
- Joanna Geary, Head
of Social Media and Online Communities, The Guardian
- David Minton,
Director, The Leisure Database
The importance and value of local journalism
The panellists
were of a shared opinion that local media has a very valuable role to play in
society. The Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sports, Helen Goodman MP,
stressed its important contribution to the local community and identity, as
well as its role in holding people to account. Hyperlocal media can also include
those who are otherwise excluded from mainstream debates, and appeal to issues
that people really care about. She made the case that local news outlets should
be identified as ‘community assets’ under the Localism Act.
Helen Goodman was
more doubtful about reporting of an extremely localised nature, positing that this
would often be better done face-to-face; this point was disputed by Geoff
Mulgan, who maintained that there is demand for such reporting on a scale even
smaller than traditional local media. More generally, he cited the work of
OfCom over the past 15 years which highlights the fact that local (rather than
national or international) news can be identified as the main gap in the news
market, which the public wish to see filled.
The Guardian’s
Joanna Geary focused on the great variety to be found among those involved in
local news reporting, and made the point that use of the blanket term
‘hyperlocal’ for their work creates a problem by not reflecting the diversity
of local media outlets. In addition, she and David Minton, Director of The
Leisure Darabase, both drew attention to the influence of mobile technology in
this arena, and the difficulties and opportunities which this has raised for
large news companies and smaller local enterprises.
David Minton
in particular emphasised the impact of the mobile phone in enabling people to
reach out to a highly targeted audience and offer them information very
specific to their location with immediate effect. He provided an illustrative
example of this based on his own involvement in setting up the Splashpath website and app. Many
subscribers use Splashpath to give
feedback on their experiences of swimming pools, including by indicating their
own personal challenges, and providing comments and criticisms. This
information, once compiled, is not only a helpful service and community for
pool users, but is also of significant value to pool operators.
Starting up and scaling up hyperlocal media
The
difficulties of establishing a workable capital model for hyperlocals formed a
significant part of the discussion. All of the panellists were broadly optimistic
that there is a viable economic future for local journalism, but the varied
nature of the sector generated similarly varied opinions and conclusions about
which would be the most fertile direction.
Helen Goodman
MP concentrated on the underlying popularity and positive economics of local
newspapers, despite their apparent decline in circulation. In terms of
practical solutions for funding, she indicated that public subsidy for local
journalism was not on the agenda; instead she showed an interest in pursuing
structural changes in order to facilitate greater co-operation between local
journalists and news companies, and to rework the existing competition rules. On
the latter point, she proposed a new system based on thresholds, so that papers
whose overall circulation (whether online or in print) falls within a
particular bracket should be subject to a corresponding level of regulation –
such a system could thereby address the existing problems both of treating
online and hard-copy publication differently without justification, and of
subjecting local newspapers to excessive and unworkable levels of regulation
similar to the national press.
Geoff Mulgan echoed
Helen Goodman MP’s remarks in stressing the need to ‘rewire’ the economy of
hyperlocals, and asserting that this did not mean implementing any public
funding. He then went further by criticising recent governments for being blind
to the transformation required in regulation of the sector due to the internet.
Beyond
regulation, he expressed interest in experimentation with various capital
models, and pinpointed a number of potential streams of revenue (including
classifieds, other advertising and subscriptions), although he was sceptical
about finding a model which might encourage professional journalists to report
on extremely local issues. He also reflected on the financial success of The
Guardian’s model, which involves aggregating a number of local news pieces with
other material and advertising. Finally, he commented that there is promise in
the future emergence of co-operatives and new business structures for
hyperlocals.
David Minton
expanded on the topic of the ability to generate revenue from subscription
sites, based largely on his experience of the targeted audience model which he
outlined in the Splashpath example.
According to this model, if a site can offer the free subscription and targeted
material which people want, then it will be able both to retain an audience and
to look for a way to make money out of the content generated by its users,
which may be valuable to others.
On the other
hand, a large number of so-called ‘hyperlocal’ news providers are set up by
local reporters who are perhaps unaware that there is any money to be made from
this activity, and who are motivated by a passion for journalism or a
particular subject rather than for any monetary reason – a point that was made
by Joanna Geary. So although increasing numbers of people do appear to be trying
to develop successful businesses out of hyperlocals, funding may be only a side
issue for these voluntary providers.
The future of hyperlocal media
The general
conclusion of the panellists was optimism about the future of hyperlocal media,
although perceptions of their future character and confidence on specific
issues varied between individuals. David Minton envisaged a future where
hyperlocals find business success by exploiting the significant avenues open to
them for growth through providing useful and relevant information to
exceedingly targeted audiences.
Geoff Mulgan
was similarly optimistic that, in light of the popular disposition to
experiment with business models and the latest media and technology
developments, someone is going to find a way to make hyperlocals profitable and
the industry will become consolidated, which may well mean that in the future the
sector will look very different. New structures, potentially in the form of
co-operatives, could become the key local hubs of the future, supplanting
actual physical locations and even challenging the legitimacy of local
councils. In terms of wider issues in national reporting and accountability,
Geoff posited the question: what type of intervention is needed to draw out the
‘public good’? Could hyperlocal media, and a diverse range of outlets, play a
role in re-establishing trust and positive participation with the local and
general population?
Helen Goodman
MP laid particular emphasis on the ability of technology to give small groups
of people a tremendous voice and the power to respond to issues which concern
them, and despite having had initial reservations prior to the panel event,
ultimately expressed confidence about potential for growth in this area.