A weekly newspaper which no longer has a reporter on patch has issued a fresh plea for readers to help fill its pages with “local stories”.
The Buteman, which serves the Scottish island of Bute, launched the call for help on its website last week saying it needs the “community’s support”.
Kevin Quinn, The Buteman’s sole reporter, and its editor, Janet Bee, are both based in Edinburgh, 89 miles away by road and on the opposite side of Scotland from the West Coast island.
Kevin also works on JPIMedia sister weekly the Midlothian Advertiser, which covers the area south of Edinburgh, while Janet oversees 21 other titles in her role as the company’s Scottish weeklies editor.
The piece on the paper’s website reads: “The Buteman has been going strong since 1854, keeping islanders up to speed with the news that matters to them.
“To continue to do this we need your help. The Buteman no longer has a reporter on the island. So to help Kevin fill your local newspaper with your local stories please get in touch with him.
“We want to focus on local content, bringing you the stories that are important to you and the island, but to do that we need the community’s support.”
In 2017, HTFP reported how an Argyll and Bute councillor had organised a public meeting designed to pressure JPIMedia predecessor Johnston Press into increasing the number of local news pages in The Buteman.
The meeting was prompted by the departure of the paper’s then island-based reporter, with Cllr Robert MacIntyre claiming that only around four pages were devoted to local news each week with the rest of the 24-page paper filled with content from JP’s other Scottish titles.
JP issued a statement reassuring islanders that The Buteman was being produced with “support from other members of our editorial teams” and the vacant island-based reporter role was subsequently filled.
However, a later JP restructure saw the island-based role axed, at which point management of The Buteman moved entirely to Edinburgh. JPIMedia has declined to comment further.
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Oh, what’s it called again… Yes, that’s it. Facebook.
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And that folks, is what the regional press has been reduced to,an almost total reliance on UGC, though to be fair they’re all doing it
Imagine any other industry where the end user is expected to supply the product themselves..
‘Trusted news since 1854’
….not any longer
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Sounds like JPI’s fill it with anything but just fill it policy writ large. Begging for local news? What next. News bins for the starved ones.
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This is little more than an affront to hard working journalists everywhere in JPI, who slog their guts out, spurred on by personal pride in their work only to get treated like this.
The profession of journalism (and have no doubt it is a profession) is being demeaned by these bean counters, while the middle managers sit back and say nothing and tow the party line, though ultimately they will soon find out that they are easily disposed of, like so many reporters and photographers in the front line.
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@Northender you’re right in what you say however when it comes to the yes men middle managers “….they will soon find out that they are easily disposed of” they always seem to slip the noose, carrying on costing the company thousands,producing nothing and turning the other cheek,keeping their heads down while the professional staff get the boot. It’s all wrong
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Unless this was done to make a point, it would have been much better to quietly recruit a non-journo on the island to act as a contact point for a very modest fee. At least then they’d be guided by some context, rather than relying on any fool with a keyboard.
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Appalling that it has got to such a state that a newspaper has to appeal for stories because the reporters concerned are based too far away. Do they not have contacts on the island. Mind you – some years back when I was a deputy news editor a reporter on the daily evening asked me: “What is a contacts book?” You couldn’t make it up. When I was young it was drummed into me by the chief reporter to make regular calls to contacts and that way we got stories – as well as getting out and about to meet people.
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With groups closing offices, or ‘ decommissioning them ’ If you’re Archant,this will become the norm wordsmith,the district reporter today will be stuck behind a desk screen gazing in a head office 20+ miles away with no chance to form relationships or contacts we know are essential in getting the best, often exclusive stories.
Is it any wonder content is at its worst ever level in terms of uniqueness and quality.
Sad times and in my view, not real journalism
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