Josiah Mortimer on state support for the media and longer term survival It is a double whammy of crushed circulation and


TO THE RESCUE


F


or a few days at the start of April, the media was the opposition. Parliament was in recess and Labour was emerging from a leadership election. Sensing concern over a democratic vacuum, Michael Gove made a surprise defence of the


media. A government that had previously pledged to ‘whack’ the BBC, and had barred critical outlets from media briefings, stated: “Robust scrutiny is to be welcomed; it is the duty of the media.” The Government would ‘support’ the scrutineers by


investing in local and regional press in the coming months, Gove told the April 4 Downing Street press conference. We heard little more until Friday April 17, when there was a


dramatic show of unity across the British media. Hundreds of local, regional and national papers carried a single message on their covers: “stay at home for the NHS, your family, your neighbours, your nation, the world and life itself”. The Government’s rescue package for print media had come through – a three-month, £35 million print ad blitz. Every major news publisher (bar the Financial Times) was initially on board, covering around 600 titles. The Daily Mail and the Guardian had the same front page for the first time ever. Newsworks, the marketing arm of national news brands,


which coordinated the deal with government ad buyer OmniGov, hailed it as a victory. “In less than a week – we took a brief and delivered it,” Newsworks’ executive chair Tracy de Groose told The Journalist. Two weeks later, the deal was official. Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the ad spend and rescue package – bringing forward the end in VAT for digital news and magazine subscriptions. While the VAT cut will be welcome for larger publishers, the


advertising windfall will quickly disappear. Media research group Enders Analysis estimates that print


outlets will see £250 billion wiped out from people not going out to buy papers this year. Meanwhile, businesses have abandoned their advertising


campaigns. The cost is staggering: a predicted £550 million loss for news brands in 2020. Record-breaking online traffic has not translated into booming online ad revenue. Many advertisers have blocked their material from appearing next to ‘negative’ content, such as ‘coronavirus’. This move could cost outlets another £50 million if it continues for the duration of the crisis, according to a report in PR outlet Campaign.


14 | theJournalist £550m


Predicted loss for news brands in 2020


advertising drought. More than £1 billion is likely to be wiped off the news/magazine market this year – an ‘existential threat’ to many in the sector, Enders analyst Alice Pickthall says. In this light, the £35 million ad spend starts to look like – to pinch a phrase from the PM – chicken feed. “It’s a tiny amount of money compared to the financial hit they’re going to take,” says Rasmus Niellson, director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Nonetheless, the largest publishers do have some level of


buffer. Reach – the owner of the Mirror, the Express and many regional titles – had a 2019 revenue of nearly £800 million. Mail-owning conglomerate DGMT’s was £1.4 billion. The nationals are also, arguably, best placed to capitalise on a surge in online readership, with titles like the FT reporting a 10-fold rise in digital subscriptions in March. In contrast, many freesheets – reliant on ad revenue – have stopped publication, including all Midlands News Association titles. Paid-for Tindle outlets in Wales have also been suspended. The Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) estimates there are around 150 ‘hyperlocal’ outlets for whom £35 million would have been a lifeline. But publications from South Leeds Life to YourThurrock and the Edinburgh Reporter say they were left out of the Government’s ad deal. Despite reaching an estimated 14.9 million unique website visitors per month – as well as shifting more than 400,000 printed copies of their publications – the Independent Community News Network (ICNN) say its members were


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