A regional publishing boss says editors are shifting away from putting “car crash content” on their front pages because readers prefer a “gentler approach.”
Newsquest CEO Henry Faure Walker, left, made the claim in an interview about the current state of the regional press published in The Guardian.
Henry argued there was now less emphasis on hard news with a move away from what he termed “shouty red-top journalism.”
David Higgerson, digital publishing director at Trinity Mirror Regionals, and Jeff Henry, chief executive at Archant, were also interviewed for the piece, which was sponsored by content marketing agency Outbrain.
Discussing the changing face of newspaper content, Henry said: “It’s less about shock and horror on the front page.
“My sense from talking to editors is that there is a shift away from car crash content. People seem more receptive to a slightly gentler approach than shouty red-top journalism.”
In the same piece, Henry also argued that more journalists’ content has “never been read more than it is today.”
“One thing people often gloss over when talking about the regional press now is that we are commanding huge and very loyal online audiences. We have some markets, such as York, where 75% of the population visits our website at least once a week,” he said.
Commenting on the content in Archant publications, Jeff said: “Successful features on a lot of the online platforms are the evergreen pieces of content – great walks in Norfolk or great places to eat, for example.
“These generate a lot of ongoing interest and are relevant for people in our areas.”
David said that “popular” non-news content was helping to boost brand awareness for his company’s titles.
He said: “The serious journalism is as important as ever but we are much more likely to be successful in maintaining that if we’re reaching an audience, and we are much more likely to reach an audience if we are part of people’s everyday lives beyond just news.”
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‘Shouty red top journalism’ or ‘news’ as it’s known in some quarters.
He also gleaned this information from talking to editors – all three of them.
According to his profile: “Henry started his career in marketing services rising to become a Board Director of The Communication Group plc in 1999.”
That’s us told. Next up, former plumber tells military chiefs soldiers are better equipped than ever.
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‘because readers prefer a “gentler approach.”
Do they?
Was quantitative and qualitative research done or could it just be that the mindless churn being passing itself off as content these days is easier to obtain, takes no journalistic skill and costs nowt?
Dumb down content further if you must but don’t pass it off as being reader driven
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I don’t care for news or information, I much prefer ‘evergreen pieces of content’.
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So by talking to some editors who have lost touch and losing readers by the thousands he thinks he has the answer. Maybe spend a few grand on market research, then decide.
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Reminds me of a £1m reader project we had back in the 1990s after which we were told our main readers were women who wanted ‘softer’ stories and less crime. After trying this pinko theme for some months, and seeing circulation dive even faster, we dumped the idea. Not a good idea to go down that route again. News is what sells newspapers. The clue is in the name – NEWSpapers.
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I wonder if Mr Faure Walker has ever tried to navigate the obstacle course that is a Newsquest website. They resemble websites from the 90s but with added spam and ad based clutter.
As for the mythical move away from “shouty red-top journalism”, has he considered which stories dominate the most read sections of NQ websites? And I challenge anyone to locate those ‘evergreen’ features stories he seems to think are increasingly important.
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Wasn’t the New Day aimed at ‘softer’ news and it was more short lived than a Donald Trump opinion
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I’m tempted to say this gentleman is talking out of his backside, but I guess it depends on how far he’s pushing that logic.
If he’s saying “we need to be nice, fluffy journalists and stop writing about death because it upsets people”, that’s nonsense. Violent and unnatural deaths are an unpleasant fact of life and often involve criminality or negligence, either on an individual or corporate/institutional level, which the public have every right to know about and newspapers should not shy away from.
When market research is conducted, I suspect people claim they don’t want to read that sort of thing in the papers because they don’t want to appear nosy or morbid. But in reality, people want and deserve to know what’s going on in their communities – for better or worse.
If Henry’s just saying newspapers should still cover these “shock and horror” incidents, but not at the expense of equally important matters (e.g. long-running issues and campaigns, in-depth coverage of local politics) then I could sort of see where he’s coming from. However, I suspect he’s taking the former approach.
How long before the first “trigger warning” appears in a Newsquest headline?
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Five dead in car crash. Nib on page 63 then.
God save us (that’s been held over for next week).
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It reminds me of when The Brighton Argus was going to become The Daily Mail by the sea and lost most of its readers in the first three weeks. If you don’t have a page lead and a car crash rolls into to the newsdesk, they will use it. Yet again the Newsquest bosses show their lack of understanding of this game. Shameful…..
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The people at the top go on about increased audiences, and I’m not denying more people are visiting websites. But that doesn’t mean the money is coming in, as proved by the endless redundancies and fewer and fewer staff being employed. Once you stop getting rid of staff – or replacing staff with substitutes on a vastly reduced wage – I may start to be convinced. Until then, I’m with the majority who believe you’re all just firefighting.
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The key is producing unique content. When I was the editor of the Chorley & Leyland Guardian there were two rules:
1. If it happened in our patch it HAD to be in the Guardian;
2. If we couldn’t be first with the news we had to be the best.
During my six years as editor the best selling papers were always the biggest news stories (murders; crime; weather specials; planning decisions; RTAs; or community initiatives like a prom supplement).
Off memory our best promotion was for a free pasty at Greggs.
I know what point Henry is making but it’s too simplistic to say readers want a “gentler approach.”
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He sums all that is wrong with the industry. No experience but plenty of blather. Gawd help us.
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I do not believe for one second that readers respond by buying a newspaper if it has “gentle” stories on the front page.
Setting yourself up as the Glad Tidings Times is a well-worn path.
Many have tried, many have failed.
Experienced editors will know it’s a direction MDs always seem to want you to take – and readers always seem to reject at the point of sale…despite saying the opposite in “focus groups.”
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I suspect that what the public wants has changed little over the years. Up-to-the-minute hard news, great pictures, gossip, information, entertainment and sport, focused exclusively on their area and the people living in it.
All properly projected by a talented editor.
A localised version of the Daily Mail, our most popular middle market national, should hit the spot.
Hard page leads next to lively picture stories. Light and shade. It’s not rocket science.
And further to Steve Dyson’s blog today, I believe newspapers that persist with advertising wraparounds will be the first to go.
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Doesn’t read the ‘most-read stories’ emails sent out to staff every month, then.
Mostly car crashes and violent crimes.
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Tony B. With you on wraps. On the assumption that the front page is supposed to sell the paper, it doesn’t matter what you put on the front if you have wrap. Plenty of room for that Gentle Stuff.
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Superman. Someone told me that the Argus, when it jumped off a cliff editorially in the 90s and never recovered, once carried a double page spread on handbags or shoes, to capture the young Mail-type readership. I hear its sales are now about 12,000 across TWO counties and a seaside city.
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Readers would always tell me they wanted “good news” stories.
Sales figures told a totally different story.
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If it bleeds, it leads.
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Henry may have misunderstood what is meant by ‘car crash content’. I think the whole thing has been a car crash for some years now, actually.
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Cor! Covered two RTC’s so far this week. Guess what – both made the paper and on-line. Seems the punters down yer still do want it (judging by t’interweb hits)
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The overwhelming number of comments and likes on this piece say it all really both in terms of the points made and the ‘likes’ ( highly prized currency according to the the ailing publishers when trying to convince people of the popularity of their online sites)
Think there’s a lot of people seeing through this tell em enough and they’ll believe it guff
Take note mssrs Henry and FW
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