Financing and supporting journalism | SMLXL - Engagement Marketing and Communication principles from Alan Moore

Good journalism is not only supported by advertising

March 25th, 2009

BBC Radio 4′s Media show covers the issues facing how one finances journalism, that I discussed earlier today.

John Naughton makes the point that however, that newspapers cannot be simply equated with good quality journalism. And Polly Toynbee supported this point of view. He also observed, that in his view, and I agree, that the decline of newspapers was writ large 10 years ago. Its been a slow painful death for the patient.

Toynbee suggested the creation of community trusts that could take the money from the ropey reporting from ITV, combine that the BBC regional TV budget, aided by some other subsidy and build good local independent community journalism. What a sensible idea.

Toynbee also touches on local democracy, and the need for local journalism to support that.

However, Britain has always had a strong national press and a weak local press, and this goes the argument, hand in hand with weak local government and low interest and participation levels too.

So participation in local elections look this: 90% in Sweden, 62% in France and 40% in the UK. So there is an issue; in reporting, the type of reporting and the scale of interest of that reporting.

However, I would say that having looked at the Cambridge Evening news on a regular basis, the misrepresented sensationalism that often comes with the front page headline, begs the question that local news has lost sight of what it is doing. and or, is also so strapped for cash it can’t report properly.

However, should advertising be the only model to support journalism, do we need it? Yes we do, and if we cannot support it as we once did, and if we believe a strong independent press is a vital and core component of local democracy – then we have to find a new way to make it work.

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