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Regional daily must not become neighbour’s ‘branch office’ warns ex-editor

Spencer FeeneyA respected former regional daily editor has warned his old paper’s new owners against turning it into a “branch office” of a neighbouring title.

Spencer Feeney, pictured left, who edited the South Wales Evening Post for 10 years, has spoken out following Trinity Mirror’s takeover of Local World.

The Swansea-based Evening Post is one of 15 Local World dailies set to be transferred under Trinity Mirror’s control after the deal’s scheduled completion next Friday.

But Spencer, who retired from the Evening Post in September 2012, fears Trinity Mirror could try to run the paper from Cardiff, where the company produces the Western Mail and South Wales Echo.

In an interview with BBC Wales,  he said:  “If (Trinity Mirror) try to run Swansea as a branch office from Cardiff it will not work. It’s fundamental that they maintain strong local resource in the city.

“The industry is shrinking so consolidation like this is inevitable, and centralisation and consolidation of itself is not a bad thing. It can be made to work.  The absolutely crucial element is what local resource you keep on the patch.”

The South Wales cities of Swansea and Cardiff lie more than 40 miles apart and enjoy a fierce local rivalry.

As part of the £220m deal Trinity Mirror will also acquire two paid-for weeklies in the region, the Carmarthen Journal and Llanelli Star.

Following the announcement of the £220m deal on Wednesday, the company revealed it would be looking to make up to £12m cost savings, including £3.2m on “content generation.”

In the BBC Wales interview, Spencer commented: “That means more journalists losing their jobs.”

He added: “If you want to produce a successful newspaper you need the right staff in the right place producing the right content with the right newspaper sales strategy behind it.

“These things have got to remain in place. With no local content, it’s not a local newspaper.

“Local newspapers are not lifestyle magazines and should not attempt to be so. They need local news, local campaigns.

“Local campaigning has always been a very strong part of the Evening Post. You’ve got to keep that content otherwise why should people bother to buy the paper.”

Trinity Mirror has so far not responded to requests for a comment.

10 comments

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  • November 3, 2015 at 8:29 am
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    Of course, we have an MD here who has a fine track record in resisting regionalisation in other areas of the business he’s in charge of, don’t we, so I am sure all will be well.

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  • November 3, 2015 at 8:38 am
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    Oh cripes, hasn’t anyone told Spencer about TM’s “exciting” plans for the new Cardiff Evening Post, with a dedicated Swansea reporter available 10-11am Mondays and Fridays at Costa Coffee in the High St? Incidentally, I can’t be reached for comment, as is the way of things in the communications industry.

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  • November 3, 2015 at 9:35 am
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    An ex-editor indulging in speculation without foundation which might frighten staff at his old title? Fancy that. The clue is in the description: ex-editor. The world moves on very fast.

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  • November 3, 2015 at 10:22 am
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    Acerbic Ronald, so unlike the colourful japester his name conjures up, lands another well-aimed blow on the nose of a slightly disingenuous commentator, unless Spencer really does have “foundation” for his comment. TM will do whatever is necessary in S Wales, as it will across the land, and given that £11m has already been budgeted for redundancies up to Year 2 of its LW acquisition, it’s a question of where and when the axe falls, not if. We’re a sunset industry, folks, and for all the huffing and puffing that will result when the TM hit squads get busy we have to face the fact our heydays, in the way we’ve known them, have long gone.

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  • November 3, 2015 at 10:40 am
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    The Swansea-Cardiff thing sounds like a perfect “cost synergy” in TM-speak. Sorry, Swansea (the city, not just the papers). Feeney is talking sound, local journalism sense here, so no-one at TM is going to listen!

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  • November 3, 2015 at 1:24 pm
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    I reckon Spencer really is in for a rude awakening if he still believes “you need the right staff in the right place producing the right content with the right newspaper sales strategy behind it.”

    What a quaint notion.

    Say hello to the Brave New World of syndicated features, centralised subbing and user-generated content with what few staff remain camped in an out-of-town business park 50 miles away knocking out endless listicles for TM’s “digital platforms.”

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  • November 3, 2015 at 1:38 pm
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    ‘Dick’ – what I’m saying is that this is just speculation from someone who should know the impact such speculation will have on people he would have responsibility for just a short while ago.

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  • November 3, 2015 at 7:32 pm
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    To be fair, anyone who has contact with TM staff will know such speculation is hardly new to them and most speculate similar with depressing regularity.

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  • November 3, 2015 at 7:44 pm
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    Wow.

    Reading the comments on here would convince anyone else that the media industry is dead already.

    Yes, newspapers are on the way out, and things need to be restructured, but this is just moving with the times.

    Nobody ever seems to mention that newspapers have been in decline far before the internet really kicked in, nor do they mention the digital growth and innovations which underpin the future.

    There may be many teething problems, likely for years to come, whilst the industry adjusts to what has been a cataclysmic decade. Things will work out. I imagine the same ‘apocalypse’ was prophesied when computers started to phase out typewriters.

    Whatever one’s opinion, at least TM are giving it a go. They seem to have got things right with Wales Online, and Liverpool Echo, without cheapening their offer. Newspapers had their own ‘click bait’ and less serious content – it is no different.

    The audience has never been bigger. Sooner or later it’ll click.

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  • November 6, 2015 at 1:41 pm
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    ‘Ron': TM want to save £11million. No speculation there. They want to cut £3.2 in content generation. No speculation there, either. Mr Feeney, though I don’t know him or know this for a fact, may be raising some concerns BECAUSE he feels a responsibility for the people he left behind. And to push a point already made as far as I can possibly push it: he’s not saying anything that isn’t being said in LW offices anyway.

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