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BBC to stage conference on local journalism

The BBC is to stage a one-day conference next week on the future of local journalism.

Organised with the support of the Society of Editors, the conference in Salford will aim to “take the pulse” of local journalism today.

Speakers at the event include Trinity Mirror regional editorial director Neil Benson, Southern Daily Echo editor and SoE president Ian Murray, and Local World group head of content Andy Phelan.

They will be joined by Mark Woodward, head of websites for Johnston Press and Trinity Mirror’s digital innovation editor Alison Gow as well as leading figures from the local broadcasting world.

Topics under discussion will include paying for local journalism and where the ‘digital compass’ is currently pointing.

BBC director of news and current affairs James Harding will host the event, to be held at MediaCityUK, Salford, on 25 June.

Said James: “Our hope is that we can get people from across print and broadcasting, online, mobile and social media, local government and business to discuss what’s happened to local journalism and, more interestingly, where we think it’s going.

“Budgetary pressures have been brought to bear on regional newsrooms in recent years and there is a concern about the impact this is having on our society and our democracy. But is the pessimism overdone?

“From local radio to the nightly regional news on TV, we at the BBC see that nothing matters more to our audiences than what’s happening where they live.”

The BBC’s own role in local journalism has been questioned by, among others, Home Secretary Theresa May, who claimed its local websites were harming local newspapers.

11 comments

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  • June 17, 2014 at 10:16 am
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    *Drops everything and immediately signs up to hear wisdom from such a stellar, successful collection of speakers*

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  • June 17, 2014 at 11:27 am
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    Perhaps Mark Woodward would like to speak about the headline which appeared above the lead story (a slightly warmed over police press release) on one of his websites recently.

    Admittedly: $stopOnePic.get(0).name is unlikely to be libellous or in contempt and it was eventually removed along with $content.name which appeared on another story nearby.

    Yes it does happen (sometimes in print), ‘and anyone who does not make a mistake makes nothing etc’ but..!

    I don’t know about taking the pulse of local journalism – is it now time to rip open its shirt, power up the paddles and shout ‘Clear!’?

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  • June 17, 2014 at 11:56 am
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    Instead of the same old faces and voices, why not ask a few coal face working journalists to speak of what they see, feel and fear for the robot-run future of regional papers and sites?

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  • June 17, 2014 at 2:20 pm
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    Nice idea Lunchtime O’C, but here in Loco World we’re as likely to see the Wise Owls from HQ in our newsrooms as we are to see any semblance of realistic commercial strategy to monetise the 1,000s of page impressions we are generating which our witless MDs breathlessly triumph as “success”. Take a look at the average “local” Local World website these days and you will see more and more that anything, geographically or content-wise, is deemed okay if it gains those required numbers to make sure centre MDs are not featured in a lowly position on the daily league tables of shame issued by the Derry Street Demons. All very good for the numbers, but what about the long term brand values and positioning/purpose of the sites?

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  • June 17, 2014 at 4:03 pm
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    No-one wants to hear about those who might speak of the realities of working in a newsroom nowadays….I would much rather listen to the big thinkers whose lack of spine got us in this mess in the first place.

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  • June 17, 2014 at 5:24 pm
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    Surely far more pertinent and timely to have one of the team behind the new Western Morning News Sunday edition speak at this conference? We’ve worked very hard at hatching this plan and look forward to seeing egg on the faces of all those naysayers who reckon a cobbled together, sub-Guardian print product on sale for just eight hours before supermarkets close, with no obvious strategic or design alignment with the core product, is unlikely to match the breathless excitement coming from the Marketing Dept for the past month.

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  • June 18, 2014 at 9:25 am
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    Ditch the managers. Get some shop floor journos to tell the truth.
    Managers, even junior ones, just tell their superiors what they want to hear, to protect their jobs. Can’t blame them for that, but the true picture of desperately under staffed papers and low editorial standards gets hidden.
    Papers will learn nothing from regional news TV. They have some talented reporters but prefer stories on their doorstep. Witness what is known as BBC Kent News in some circles!

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  • June 18, 2014 at 10:18 am
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    This conference is nothing more than a chance for the organisers to beef up their CV’s.
    We know what’s happened to local journalism, you don’t need to spend all day talking about that.
    And we know where it’s going–down the plug hole–and that includes anodyne BBC regional journalism where all the money is spent on London.
    Strewth…no wonder people in Scotland are talking about independence!

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  • June 18, 2014 at 12:15 pm
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    Maybe those of us who work ten-hour days (with no hope of any overtime or lieu time back) should hold a conference. Might be more relevant than whatever these management-speak machines come back with. “Digital compass”. Really?

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  • June 18, 2014 at 4:21 pm
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    The web hits on local sites are very low and cannot bring in decent revenue. Save print before its too late.!!!

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