Online access to information in the public realm, strengthened by the right to know, has grown in leaps and bounds. We live in a data-rich society, but the democratic deficit has widened inexorably as authoritative news outlets have fallen by the wayside.
Fewer established journalists than ever are holding officialdom to account. But an upsurge in community-based journalism sustains a thriving array of websites and not-for-profit publications which continue to offer a vital platform for local news and opinion.
There are steps that could be taken by any newly elected government to strengthen those groups and organisations which try valiantly to fill the void that has been left by the disappearance of locally employed journalists and the absence of an effective voice to monitor or challenge those in authority.
Recycled news stories and brief online reports lacking depth and breadth
As the daily flow of original and well-researched news reports has been reducing, the story lines which are published, or broadcast, generate ever-growing chatter on social media and a seemingly endless supply of fodder for talk shows on television and radio.
Each news cycle tends to recycle much of the same material. What is missing is the depth of analysis and breadth of news judgement which an older generation of journalists fear might be lost forever. While often in awe at the speed and originality of online reaction, they cringe at the brevity and lack of context of so many of the posts on social media which appear under the name of today’s reporters.
Long gone are the days when the press proprietors could count their daily circulation in millions. Detailed, authoritative journalism which was the bedrock of democratic accountability is becoming too costly to produce on a daily basis. As a result, much of the content that once appeared in print is now – albeit now in far briefer reports – being channelled to online editions, as the national and local press fight to hold on to readers who have given up buying newspapers.
As an example of what has been lost, regional authorities and local councils attract a fraction of the attention that they once received. All too often they escape the scrutiny that was once the pride of evening and weekly newspapers.
Closures and cut-backs
The impact of a near wipeout of the local press in much of the country, and the decimation of regional and local broadcasting, is not yet so acute within the London-based news media, but our journalism has taken a terrible battering. The combined strength of the UK’s news gathering resources is a shadow of what it was a decade ago.
Hardly a week goes by without the announcement of another closure or cut back. The London Evening Standard, which for so long provided news desks across the capital with the first take on the developing story lines of the day, is to be published weekly.
A government-imposed squeeze on the finances of the BBC continues to hollow out the hitherto commanding position of its journalism. BBC 2’s Newsnight has switched to a discussion format having dispensed with the investigative and analytical news reports that used to add an extra dimension to the nightly output.
There has been a savage downsizing across the BBC local radio network with combined stations covering what their journalists now consider are large, disconnected areas rather than the more tightly defined news patches of the past.
Community-based news outlets: an encouraging development
One truly encouraging development is the continued growth of community-based websites, newspapers and magazines where volunteers – including former or retired journalists – are doing what they can to replace at least some of the news coverage which their localities valued so dearly. Derided for a time as a poor man’s citizens’ journalism, they are, slowly but surely, establishing themselves as trusted news providers.
An urgent challenge for an incoming government is to see whether this trend can be encouraged and strengthened; some imaginative thinking is required.
Having spent the last decade of my retirement trying to build a local community news website in North London – backed up by a newsy quarterly magazine – I would suggest that there are some immediate steps that national and local government, as well as the media industry itself, could take to support community news reporting in areas denuded of established journalism.
Allow community news outlets to receive local democracy reports
Local news outlets have recently been provided with a lifeline by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which is funded by the BBC. More than 1,000 media titles and outlets across the UK are provided with stories by 165 local democracy reporters. To be awarded a contract to employ one of these journalists, media companies must pass stringent criteria regarding their financial standing and track record in supplying relevant journalism.
Community-based news outlets are in no position to offer such employment, but every effort should be made to encourage them to see whether they might qualify as potential recipients. The Bylines Network series of publications is one of the first volunteer projects to secure access after a successful application last year.
A lack of awareness among voluntary groups needs to be addressed. Perhaps a register could be established of community organisations whose news output meets recognised standards of accuracy and impartiality.
Improve community news outlets’ access to public body information
An important aspect of the work of democracy reporters is to deliver news copy about the workings of local authorities, mayoralties, combined area authorities, quangos and other democratic institutions. But these are the very authorities and undertakings which a community outlet can find the hardest to penetrate. Their volunteers are regularly denied access because they are not full-time journalists. Requests for information are all too often batted away by communications and public relations departments on the grounds they do not respond to questions from ‘pressure groups’.
My frustration with the lack of access – especially with unhelpful health and hospital trusts – reaches boiling point when their communications staff say they only deal with newspapers, broadcasters, and news agencies. My questions cannot be taken; instead, I am told to make a Freedom of Information request. My life membership of the National Union of Journalists is ‘irrelevant’.
Permit community news outlets to print statutory notices
Legal requirements relating to the registration of newspapers at Companies House were eased in 2015 but they do retain valuable privileges. Public authorities are required to advertise statutory notices – such as planning applications or road closures – in relevant local newspapers. With the loss of so much of their classified advertising, this provides much needed revenue.
However, it is an income stream which the House of Commons culture and media select committee believes could be distributed more widely given the disappearance of many local titles. In a report in 2023, the committee urged ministers to consider whether the rules for placing statutory notices could be relaxed. If community newspapers and websites had an established footing, perhaps gained charitable status, that might encourage local authorities to place statutory notices in a wider range of news outlets.
A redistribution in these paid-for public notices is just one way of addressing the need to sustain locally produced news and opinion.
Given the steep fall in circulations, the continued decline in the number of paid-for local papers, and the fact that many struggling local titles are distributed free at restricted locations such as supermarkets and libraries, community-based publications and websites might well provide a cost-effective alternative to the mainstream media at minimal expense.
Community-based journalism: now a vital aspect of democracy
Well researched and well reported news is important for democracy. Local press campaigns backed by pages filled with letters to the editor were once powerful forms of protest. A deficit in information and accountability fuels public apathy, the enemy of a healthy democracy.
So much of what is posted on social media is here today and gone tomorrow, but up and down the country community-based journalism is crying out for support and ready to bare its teeth on the public’s behalf.
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