10 Informed Spotlight


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Europe or the Arab world have lost more than half of their classified advertising to the internet. Te pace of change differs from country to country but the overall direction of travel is the same. Such decline raises serious concerns


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Local news maters around the globe


Unions are at the front of the debate, campaigning and organising for positive change


By Jeremy Dear, IFJ deputy general secretary


At the start of 2016, CareerCast, a US- based graduate jobs site, ran a survey of the best and worst roles available for those leaving universities. Newspaper reporter was voted the worst – thanks largely to declining job prospects and ad revenues leading to stagnant or falling salaries. Te crisis facing local news in the US is stark. More than a third of all newspaper newsroom jobs were shed in just five years. Hundreds of titles have closed and many of those that survive do so with reduced staff, smaller pagination and fewer editions.


Te US is not alone. Newspapers across


over a growing local news gap. We face the prospect of local news deserts where communities are not covered at all and have to rely on the local grapevine of interpersonal communication and information from self-interested parties to stay informed about local affairs. Forms of alternative and community media increase diversity in important ways in some areas but their resources and reach are oſten limited and most localities are primarily served by market-based and public service media. But while corporate media cut globally, new ideas – and most importantly movements – are emerging that give hope for the future. Local news usually ranks as the top priority in surveys – but the economics of the digital age work strongly against reporting about schools, courts, health boards and neighbourhoods. If there’s any good news about local news it’s that hundreds of former newspaper journalists have jumped into the breach leſt by the decline of their traditional news outlets to start local and hyperlocal news sites around the country. Te start- ups aren’t a perfect substitute for what’s been lost but many are covering their communities in ways that traditional outlets did not or could not. Speciality sites focusing on local public schools, local health or arts have sprung up. But many of these sites remain small and financially precarious. In an increasing number of countries the importance of local news provision is being recognised. State subsidies are already common across Europe – both


But while corporate media cut globally, new ideas – and most importantly movements – are emerging that give hope for the future.


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