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South Wales Evening Post, compared with 11 who once reported on the town across five titles. Since 2009, the town has also lost its council


newspaper, its community radio station and, sadly, the Port Talbot Magnet, which became a casualty of the 2016 steel crisis and its impact on the local economy. It is unsurprising that I found a decline in the


amount of news being provided, together with the quality of the coverage. Local people were affected. In the absence of


local journalism, I found rumour, speculation and a heavy reliance on social media. Residents told me they were finding out about significant issues too late to react to them, and often not until they had physically bumped into information. Signs, protests, petitions, closed roads and even – yes! – graffiti, had all become important news sources. Scrutiny of the powerful was also damaged.


Journalists were far less likely to attend council meetings or magistrates’ courts, and more likely to rely on press releases or official statements. Institutions were opaque and difficult for citizens to navigate. Even seasoned campaigners reported difficulties in getting questions answered, finding accountable people to complain to, and communicating widely any accurate information they were able to uncover.


The research provides strong evidence that the basic duties of journalism – to keep people informed and represent their views and to scrutinise those in power – have been compromised by the decline in local media. Bethan Sayed, a regional Welsh Assembly member covering Port Talbot, chairs the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee, which carried out an inquiry into news journalism last year. This recognised the impact of the decline in local media, and made recommendations, which included a £200,000 grant to help hyperlocal news start-ups in Wales. When the Banksy turned up, she stepped in to


support Lewis and saw the issues first hand. “There was a lot of misinformation. I ended up


writing an article for [current affairs blog] Nation.Cymru and tweeting. I got a lot of flak, but, at times, the only way we could get accurate information out was if I did it myself.” She is keenly aware of the lack of a local outlet for the kind of well-informed debate traditionally provided by local newspapers. “Now the hysteria has died down, there’s no


space for discussion about the future of the Banksy, the future of art in the town, nor an ongoing focus on pollution and the issues the artwork raises. National reporters have lost interest and gone.”


Sheen agrees: “It was obvious there was a


growing sense of ownership of the Banksy in the town. If someone had been accurately reporting and reflecting opinions, the community would have had a stronger sense of what to do with it and, maybe, a better say in what happened to it.” Sheen contacted me after the Port Talbot Magnet closed and our conversations led to him commissioning me to carry out more research – this time to look at innovative and sustainable ways of trying to solve Port Talbot’s news deficit. He explains: “I wanted to find out what ideas for sustainable journalism exist around the UK and the world, to explore those ideas and see what I could do to try to adapt them and bring something to Port Talbot.” The research is under way, but some things are


already clear. The loss of local media, including the Port Talbot Magnet, shows we cannot go back to funding or reporting news in the old ways. Many new models gaining traction around the


world, funded by subscription or memberships, are redefining news reporting. The most successful are putting themselves on a more equal footing with communities, building trust and transparency, and forging partnerships with local people. A new kind of journalism is emerging. Sheen says: “If people feel that power is not held to account, they don’t have a voice or news can’t be trusted, that leads to anger, frustration, fear. If we want any chance of having people’s voices heard on the national stage, we need better representation of communities locally. The health of local journalism is central to that. We hope this research will point us in the right direction.”


Rachel Howells is co-author of Hyperlocal Journalism (Routledge, 2018). Her research at bit.ly/2yNRz0X; follow her at @raehowells


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ILLUSTRATION: NED JOLLIFFE


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