Paper Cuts

dpetrieblog

Jun 30

I've frequently mentioned in these blog posts the alarming decline in print sales of newspapers and I make no apology for doing so again now.

I was sad to read earlier this month that daily print circulation of The Scotsman has now fallen below 10,000. It's even more depressing to note that less than 5,000 of those papers are actually bought over the counter, the rest are either complementary or sold in bulk at a large discount.

I know that the media landscape has changed and that many people now read their news online rather than in print, but it still makes me sad to see the decline of what was long regarded as Scotland's newspaper of record. I'm old enough to remember when The Scotsman boasted a circulation that was well into six figures and was regarded as a "must read" by anyone with an interest in Scotland's cultural and political life.

Of course there is nothing unique about the plight of The Scotsman. An academic report published just last week warned that many towns and communities across the UK are now effectively "news deserts" where there is little or no media coverage of local news. The report also highlighted the fact that in some parts of England journalists are outnumbered by Police press officers.

I know from my own days as a local government press officer that many local newspapers are so poorly resourced that they will regularly print press releases verbatim, without checking them for accuracy or giving any sort of context to the information. From a press officer's point of view that is obviously great, but it doesn't do much for democratic accountability.

Most people now get their local news from social media platforms, especially Facebook. I mean no disrespect to people who post local news on Facebook, but they are not in any position to carry out detailed investigations into any shenanigans which might be going on locally. Nor can they provide the analysis and background required to put their stories into perspective. .

The reliance on social media for local news also raises a number of real concerns, including the spread of misinformation and the exclusion of those people who are not active online.

It seems worrying to me that in many parts of the country the public doesn't know what their elected representatives are up to because there is no media to tell them. Surely that can't be good?

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