The extent of the crisis
Local newspapers have been an important part of informing, educating and entertaining the population of the UK for over 300 years. But the newspaper, as it exists today, is changing.
In the past the regional newspaper was the primary source of news from your local area but with the arrival of the internet, the newspaper's monopoly on publishing local information changed.
1,300 regional newspapers in the UK Bloggers, social media sites and search engines can provide the daily local news you seek. Regional newspaper circulations have been falling. Why buy a paper when you can access local news on your mobile, laptop or Blackberry?
There are over 1,300 regional and local newspapers in the UK , supported by 1,200 websites and 250 ultra local titles. Enders Analysis warned MPs that half of these publications could close in the next five years while a Deloitte report in December 2008 predicted that the regional newspaper industry would be "decimated" in 2009.
Ad revenue drying up
Advertising is the regional newspapers' life blood. With the property boom of the last decade, these newspapers have relied on this sector more than any other for advertising revenue. Other forms of advertising such as jobs, classifieds and motors have migrated online to sites like Ebay and Gumtree.
Newspapers became vulnerable as the property market wobbled when the global economic crisis unfolded in late 2008.
Advertisers have tightened their belts with newspapers reporting a decrease of about 30% in ad revenue. Over 60 regional and local newspapers in the UK have closed since January 2008 and the number of unemployed journalists has jumped to over 1,800 – a 150% increase from April 2008.
Former managing director of Coventry Newspapers Dan Mason says media companies need to acknowledge and adapt to the current problems.
"Newspaper companies have no choice but to say: 'we are in a market where our newspapers are declining in circulation overall – people are basically reading less, revenues are falling incredibly quickly, and we have no option but to reduce our costs.'"
Journalists must write articles against tight deadlines for daily papers, the newspaper's web site as well as, now, having to produce multimedia content. The number of journalists in employment at regional newspapers is falling as the workload increases.
Profitable
Five of the largest owners of regional media in the UK are Trinity Mirror, Newsquest, Johnston Press, Archant and Northcliffe Media. These groups must be struggling, right? While advertising revenue has fallen, profits for these groups has fallen but they are still making profits. The first step has been to reduce costs, meaning redundancies and a reduction of resources in the newsroom.
The NUJ launched a campaign to keep journalism jobsChief editor of Southampton's Southern Daily Echo Ian Murray believes problems for regional newspapers will get worse before they improve.
"I think it would be a brave man or woman in this industry that said it's as bad as it is going to get. I think we are going through a change. I think we will continue to go through that change and that's going to mean that there's going to be upheavals," he said.
"There might be aftershocks from the big changes that have taken place. There are some that are going to be mistakes; they're going to go too far. But what tends to happen is that the void that's created will be filled by either the BBC coming in or a competitor."
Journalists, lead by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), have begun a campaign to fight job cuts in the regional media. The campaign 'Stand Up for Journalism' has been active since 2008 and continues to defend NUJ members.
Strike action has taken place in several locations across the UK including: Leeds , York and Glasgow.
Regional newspapers are in dire straights, but, could they have done more to adapt, and what will the regional newspaper be like in five years? Read>>>
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