“News is something which somebody wants suppressed: all the rest is advertising.”
Variations on this quote, originally attributed to William Randolph Hearst, have echoed around newsrooms for decades, with advertising and editorial kept separate. Nowadays, though, the line is becoming more blurred for the UK’s regional media.
And it is driving journalists away from the jobs they love. One former local paper editor told Index she bowed out after commercial influence became the last straw.
