A regional data journalism chief has accused national journalists of spreading a “convenient London fiction” about the state of the regional press.
David Ottewell, head of data journalism at Trinity Mirror, has called for journalists based in the capital to “stop talking down other parts of the media” in a lengthy thread on Twitter.
David, pictured, was responding to a comment piece on the Vice magazine website which bemoaned how some national journalists have covered areas other than London since the Brexit vote.
The article, headlined ‘Will the ‘Brexit Heartland’ Safari Ever End?’, mentioned the “speedy decline of local newspapers, many of which are being bought up by conglomerates and turned into clickbait farms.”
Jonathan Walker, political editor at the Birmingham Post and Mail and Newcastle chronicle and Journal, shared the extract on Twitter, posting: “Interesting article in the excellent Vice, but here they lament the decline of local media – while linking to a Guardian story rather than a very similar story published by the Birmingham Mail five days previously.”
Interesting article in the excellent Vice, but here they lament the decline of local media – while linking to a Guardian story rather than a very similar story published by the Birmingham Mail five days previously pic.twitter.com/SS3JFPloyS
— Jonathan Walker (@jonwalker121) January 30, 2018
Jonathan’s post prompted a longer response from David, who said he wanted to “humbly ask London media people who don’t actually read regional and local news to stop telling the rest of us how benighted it is”.
David wrote: “It’s what I call a “convenient London fiction”: a view held by people who live and work in the capital about what’s happening elsewhere, which isn’t in any way true. This CLF goes like this: while the national/London media – which the speaker generally happens to work in – is in rude health, the regional/local media is now some sort of clickbait-focused shell of its former glory.
“It’s quite a common view. Literally, there have been entire conferences about the parlous state of the local press, conducted in London with no representatives of the local press to point out how ill-informed this is. Now there is no doubt the news media has faced huge challenges in recent years – but this applies equally to the national and regional media.
“Both have responded in very similar ways. Yes, it true there are fewer jobs overall, compared to the “heyday” of newspapers. But there has been significant investment in innovation, skills development, and digital storytelling.
“I’ve worked in the media for nearly 20 years now and the ability of the modern journalist to harness new tools to find and tell stories is better than ever. They are more adaptable than ever, and more aware of what their readers want.”
“Some of the greatest innovation is at regional and local level. Some of the best investigations – now as ever – are at regional and local level. In particular, the idea that regional and local papers no longer care about holding power to account, or are unable to do so – is simply and demonstrably wrong.”
David went on to list 18 different front pages from TM titles in the past week which feature “public interest” stories.
Here are some sample front pages from the last week from Trinity Mirror titles, large and small. (10/13) pic.twitter.com/fjxh05pNJZ
— David Ottewell (@davidottewell) February 1, 2018
He added: “Are these not issues of public interest, as well as local interest? Do they suggest local journalists don’t cover meetings and have no contacts or investigative skill? These are just pretty random picks, too, from the last week. They aren’t unusual.”
“So please: if you work in the media, stop talking down other parts of the media. Or at least do some actual research first – particularly if you are a journalist. We all want to keep standards up, right?”
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Clearly, these data unit folks live in an alternative world to me. The state of the provincial press – or what is left – is desperate with standards of reporting nothing short of dismal. All they seem to be interested in are totally pointless FOI requests and even more pointless clickbaits.
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I just need to avoid whichever branch of Specsavers this guy is going to.
Rose-tinted glasses? Or blinkers?
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Perhaps they could do a montage of inside pages, to show how far the quality content extends. Rather than just the splashes, which one would hope would be strong stories.
” …more aware of what their readers want.”
Reporters used to be based in their local patch, and used to get out of the office much of the day, mingling with their readers.
Now, they’re expected to cover places they’ve never been to, from offices 20 miles away.
And their lack of local knowledge/understanding of where/who they are writing about screams out to readers.
“harness new tools”
Ie trawling through Facebook pages and copy/pasting police tweets.
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Never mind public interest stories. What is need are stories the public are interested in. Then we might get somewhere.
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Much local media IS absolutely in “some sort of clickbait-focused shell of its former glory”. My local ‘news’ website is definitely in a “parlous” state.
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Another one – completely out of touch with regional titles – yes some of those front splashes could just about be called acceptable – read inside and read online to see the reputation they now have with readers – ‘Can you cook sausages in a dishwasher?’ a recent gem
Another was a story in a Midlands daily that took place in Cornwall, obviously TM syndicated for clicks. And every single day it’s the same, even the public that respond on social media sites don’t get it, like it or want it – cue the ‘we know what people read and try to provide it’ response.
“speedy decline of local newspapers, many of which are being bought up by conglomerates and turned into clickbait farms.” – this is absolutely the case. Wherever you live it’s happening today, visit your local TM Facebook page now to see it!
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Can one cook sausages in a dishwasher?
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If it’s not about being clickbait farms, why do (or did) TM local newsrooms have large TV’s showing the exact percentage figures and ratings on website story clicks?
And whose idea was it to have these TVs installed in editorial? Head office initiative I wonder?
Who could have come up with such an idea? I’m sure it couldn’t have been a head of data journalism, especially one complaining about click bait as derogatory term.
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Some of this guff shows that him and some others are away with the fairies. Fact is that big cash cut-backs have led to big staff cuts and quality has shrivelled. Many local papers which had about eight reporters now have about two, for example.
Big-follow ups, investigations, and features on nitty-gritty topics have almost disappeared. My local misses a lot of stuff even when sent a tip-off. No mention of former well knowns dying even when given basic details and tel. nos for follow-ups. Two or three par mentions of house fires saying damage was extensive and two people went to hospital, but no follow-ups. Little or no coverage of mags. courts or local councils etc. etc. etc. Lots of errors with poor spelling and punctuation. Almost identical pix used in quick-fill spreads on a page…….V.Meldrew.
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