The catastrophic economic collapse of the local news industry over the past two decades has destroyed the business model of local newspapers, according to the Charitable Journalism Project. Although consumers sometimes described these Facebook groups using terms such as “toxic” and “racist,” many said they provided more up-to-date information than their local newspaper. Dr Steven Barkley of the University of London, who conducted the research, said the local public was increasingly turning to online community groups, with a few of the people he interviewed visiting the local newspaper’s website directly for the latest updates. In one example, the town of Trowbridge in Wiltshire has a population of 44,000 – and more than 30,000 of them are in a Facebook group. Barkley said a common complaint in the “news deserts” was that local journalists in the mainstream media were no longer based in the cities they covered. In the case of the Whitby Gazette, the newspaper had a prominent office in the now-closed coastal city of Yorkshire. “Whitby was a really classic example of a newspaper that was widely read in the city and was part of its identity. “People identified with the Gazette – they said they knew the Gazette publisher and drank with him at the pub,” Barclay said. He said many of those interviewed for the study were fully aware – and saddened – by the decline of local news outlets. “What I found in my research is that people wanted a reliable source of local news and information that was both professional and genuinely local.” In addition to Trowbridge and Whitby, the study also focused on Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, Corby in Northamptonshire, Pembrokeshire in Wales, Lewisham in south London and Tiverton in Devon. The authors found that many of the respondents did not have the traditional reference to what was happening in their cities. “The new style of local journalism that replaced it was seen as commercializing and, at times, damaging and divisive,” the report said. Many local news agencies now set click-through rates for their reporters – with financial incentives for journalists who can maximize the number of people lured by a headline. Local newspapers also tried to make money by posting increasingly provocative headlines on social media, which further contributed to their declining status, with Barclay saying that “flashing ads and clickbait banks” on some local sites undermined quality pieces of journalism. The research was supported by the Charitable Journalism Project, which aims to help local nonprofit media gain charitable status. Many of the respondents also said that local Facebook groups were incredibly effective places for information about Covid trials or as a place to buy or sell goods. There was also praise for the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporter program to increase coverage of local councils. Barkley said local newspapers acted as community glue. “People do not necessarily want their local news to be big stories – they want control of the local government, but they also want stories about the local festival and the reopening of the primary school and make them feel happy about where they live.”
