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The quest for sustainability is more important than ever

Behind Local News
Sep 20, 2018 · 4 min read

It’s now just over a year since the Oldham Evening Chronicle shocked the publishing world by becoming the first daily local newspaper in living memory to cease publication due its owners closing down. While sustainability might not be the most inspiring word to describe what local journalism needs to achieve, events in Oldham were a powerful reminder that without sustainable incomes, local journalism will struggle to survive.

Out of the demise of the Chronicle, several publications operated by other publishers emerged. One, the Oldham Times, operated by Newsquest, celebrated its first birthday recently. Its editor, Karl Holbrook, who also oversees the Bolton News, wrote this week for Behind Local News about where he intends to go next with the title, including a greater push towards digital audiences.

It is one of two articles penned by Karl in recent weeks for BLN — he’s also shared the background to a record-breaking day for digital visitors to the Bolton News site after rumours began to emerge about the future of local club Bolton Wanderers. Again, while digital statistics are far from fool-proof, it’s beyond doubt that if you don’t stand out online for local news, sustainability for your local journalism will always be a challenge.

Of course, the Oldham Times isn’t the only new print title to emerge in recent times. Newsquest has also launched two Sunday titles in the wake of the Sunday Herald, one of which was the Sunday edition of the National newspaper. Richard Walker shares the drama of getting the first edition ready.

Sustainability also surely relies on having the right people with the right skills in the newsroom. Alison Gow, editor in chief (digital) at Reach plc, this week wrote for BLN about the company’s new Certificate of Journalism qualification, which all trainees in the business undertake. A well-established gold standard for the industry, the CoJ has been revamped to reflect the divergent paths journalists now take in digital newsrooms.

Also from Reach, local democracy editor Yakub Qureshi, has shared with BLN details of the company’s efforts to make newsrooms more gender-balanced by implementing 50/50 short-lists for the LDR roles as they became available. Again, we have to assume that sustainability is all the more likely if newsrooms reflect the communities they serve, and this is hopefully a step towards that. Talking of local democracy, we’ve had first person articles from Fiona Callingham of the Portsmouth News on keeping the beat busy during the summer holidays, Faye Browne from the Liverpool Echo on why she loves writing about rats and Echo head of politics Liam Thorp on covering the local national political story which erupted when Frank Field resigned the Labour Party whip.

To be honest, pretty much every story we’ve written recently could be linked to sustainability. We’re nothing if we don’t uphold the public’s right to know, which makes the work of James Butler, at the Littlehampton Gazette, to ensure he could name a teenager who stabbed three boys so important when courts were minded to keep such details secret.

Then there’s the launches of EdinburghLive and CheshireLive by Reach as it seeks to create a sustainable network of digital local news sites, building on the success of launches in Belfast, Dublin and Glasgow. Audience data from existing brands in those markets would suggest the Live brand helps find new digital audiences, rather than sharing existing audiences, which can only be good for local journalism.

And sustainability surely also relies on trying new platforms. The Liverpool Echo is surely on to a winner if it can produce a podcast listened to by tens of thousands globally, and then get hundreds locally to turn out for a live recording of one too. The details on this from Rachel Cunningham can be found here.

Maybe sustainability isn’t quite such a dull word after all!

Finally, the popular ‘our newsroom’ feature has had recent entries from the Lancashire Telegraph, where news gods appear to always shine, the Lancashire Post in Preston where the quotes books is never far from hand and the LincolnshireLive newsroom in Lincoln, home to the famous print title the Lincolnshire Echo and the rapidly-expanding county-wide site of LincolnshireLive. It’s a newsroom with a view, and some great stories to tell too.

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Behind Local News UK