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Britain's local news needs support

The Digital Britain report released this week highlighted the need to keep innovation and new technology at the forefront of Britain’s future plans, but it also pointed out an area of concern that industry insiders have been talking about for years – local journalism is on the brink of collapse.

The flailing industry has been hit hard by the rise of new technologies, with traditional regional models being called a “failed system”, and revenue for newspapers seeing a steady decline over the years as advertisers look to the web to reach their target audience.

The report, backed by an earlier Ofcom study, suggests that regional news needs to be overhauled, modernised and, more importantly, given more funding.

The report says: “Traditionally funding came implicitly by cross subsidy from the local broadcasting franchise or from high margins in advertising inventory. Both sources are diminishing very rapidly.

“In the current public expenditure climate further calls on the Exchequer could not be contemplated, even if it were appropriate for government to fund news in the UK directly.

“The funding therefore needs to come in some form from the existing public investment made through the Television Licence Fee, either directly or indirectly.”

Alternatives

The current regional alternative to the BBC is ITV, who recently made 430 redundancies in its regional news service in order to save £40m.

In a speech to industry figures at a Department of Culture, Media and Sport media summit in April, the head of Ofcom, Ed Richards, said: “If we want to retain nations and regions news beyond the BBC we need to act.

“The current system may be particularly hard hit by the recession, but it is also unsustainable even under a benign economic climate. Unless we act soon, a diverse supply of high quality news provision will slip away. It is as simple as that.”

The suggestion in the report is for more news sources to team up across the country to provide a quality public broadcast service that can compete with the BBC and be viable in the long term.

These partnerships of news sources, called Independently Financed News Consortia (IFNC), will provide “a more ambitious” local news service, and following the outcome of a consultation, the government is hoping to launch three pilot IFNCs before the 2012 digital switch over, in Wales, Scotland, and one English region.

“Consortia are likely to be able to produce news more cost-effectively than existing Channel 3 Licensees using assets designed for a different era,” says the report.

“The result could be a greater investment in journalism, news-gathering and multi-media distribution and syndication than today, enhancing the quality of news in the Nations, regionally and locally.”

Sly Bailey, Chief Executive of Trinity Mirror, Britain’s biggest newspaper group, said: “The Digital Britain report has recognised a number of the serious issues facing the survival of local media.

“We have consistently argued that a change in primary legislation is not necessary to address these issues, simply that the existing merger regime fully recognises that the old narrow definitions of print markets are no longer fit for purpose. So the Ofcom review process could be a clever answer to a difficult problem.”

Taking licence

In a controversial move, the BBC is being asked to give up some of its funding to address the need for competitive regional TV news, around £40m to £60m a year according to Ofcom – figures which are being called a “fantasy” by the BBC.

When introducing the report in the commons, culture secretary Ben Bradshaw said: “The licence fee is the existing major intervention for content. There is nothing in either the BBC charter or legislation to say the BBC must have exclusive rights to it.

“Independent of the level of which the licence fee is set after 2013, we will consult on the option of sharing a small element of it post 2013 to ensure high quality plural provision particularly in the regions and the nations.”

But Conservative MP Jeremy Hunt criticised the idea of using public money to “prop up a failed system,” and that money alone will not solve the problem.

Mr Hunt said: “Does the Secretary of State accept the traditional model of regional news based on the old ITV transmitter regions has failed, and what people really want is not regional news but local news? Why does Birmingham, Alabama, have eight local TV stations when Birmingham in the UK, four times the size, has none?

“Why then is he using the public’s money to prop up a failed system when people in his own Exeter constituency have to watch the news from Plymouth, or people in my constituency of Surrey have to watch news from Southampton?

“In America much smaller cities have not just one but a whole clutch of local news channels, greatly enhancing a sense of community and vibrant local democracy - none have access to a licence fee.

“So instead of putting yet more burden on taxpayers, why is the government not embracing a digital era version of syndicated local TV – something which could also be a lifeline to our local newspaper industry?”

Massive national private companies, like FOX, NBC and ABC, own a host of local channels across the US, including Alabama, and there is also a Public Broadcast Service (PBS) channel offering news, which is funded by pledges given by viewers.

The future is local

In the North East, Tom Harvey, Chief Executive of Northern Film and Media, said: ““Local and regional news is vital to our cultural, political and democratic life, we want our citizens to be as informed as possible.

“A decline in the levels of investigative journalism means a decline in the quality of information available to the public, and uninformed electorate threatens our democracy.

“It’s vital that the government follows through on its promises to find a way to support regional and local news and private sector involvement in the approach is key.”

Ultimately the Digital Britain report does not outline detailed plans to change the current regional format, but rather it asks for suggestions on how to change news output on a local level, an integral source of democracy that has to adapt to new media.

The report says: “To sustain the vital civic function of journalism, citizens, Government and business will need collaboratively to devise new ways of funding the news. The commercial model will continue to play an important role, especially as publishers explore the potential of new platforms and technologies.

“But it will also need to be supplemented with a range of alternative models – for example, local ownership, community media and non-profit organisations.

“At the heart of our commitment to UK media is the Government’s commitment to a free, independent and active press. Whether at a local, regional or national level it is essential that high quality, independent journalism should continue to thrive and keep UK citizens informed.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .