Local media ownership is extremely concentrated.
Most local papers that make it through your door or gather dust at the pub are jam-packed with adverts and the odd press-release. Then there’s your lifestyle magazines, with endless cafe reviews broken up with advertorials and trendy interviews. It’s fair to say that local media isn’t exactly blossoming.
In fact, as reported by The Press Gazette, 289 local publications folded in contrast to only 109 launches since 2005. Media deserts are spreading fast. So what’s driving this apparent downward spiral? Our interpretation of this evaporation of local media outlets includes many elements. Advertising revenue is increasingly hard to secure. One particular factor, often overlooked, is the rise of web-based blogging and the function of social media as a news aggregator and distributor. However, in our analysis the real failure of local journalism is based on a crucial dynamic of the news-media industry, same as any other commercially driven industry. Namely, the commodification of news media as another product to trade, whose prime purpose is to be a vehicle for profit, not a crucial part of our communities and a public good.
