A Regional Press Awards judge has warned “clickbait and random content” will not provide a sustainable future for local journalism after assessing this year’s entries.

Ed Gould has urged news titles to stay “true to the core values of regional journalism”, noting that local stories “find wider audiences” than other articles.

Ed spoke out after examining categories including Digital Live News Reporter of the Year and Scoop of the Year while serving on the judging panel of the awards, organised by the Society of Editors, for the last four years.

His comments came in an opinion piece for the Southern Daily Echo, in which the content marketer noted some of the work he had reviewed “would not look out of place in my own industry”.

Ed, pictured, wrote: “Fundamentally, the story should still be central to a local media title. Change clicks are one thing but editorial decision-making remains a key factor of value.

“A regional press future full of clickbait and random content is not sustainable, attractive or adding true value to the reader.

“As I assessed the entries, my votes went towards those with the right balance of relevant news delivered using accessible and digestible routes across multiple channels.

“By staying true to the core values of regional journalism in this way, local stories find wider audiences and can keep increasingly fractured local communities connected.

“This could help protect and nurture the identity of the community, something which – in an increasingly globalised world – is of huge importance in this wannabe journalist’s eyes.”

Ed, who is creative director at communications agency Carswell Gould, also praised awards submissions which “were often presented in more accessible bitesize and clickable content formats”.

He added: “All this suggests to me that a new generation of digital-native journalists has broken through and that it is these people that are driving forward regional journalism across the UK.

“Where once a team of writers, editors, designers and logistics specialists collaborated to make the news happen, one person plus software is expected to do it all.”