Latest circulation figures for Britain’s regional newspapers will cast gloom in newsrooms throughout the land.
The headline news is that only five regional daily papers sell more than 40,000 copies and one – The Wigan Evening Post – now only sells 2,382 copies a day, and surely cannot be long for this world.
All regional titles report a decline in sales, some by as much as 30 per cent. In that context The Yorkshire Post’s drop of just 3 per cent year on year looks like a commercial triumph. The economics are brutal; local papers thrived in an era when production and distribution costs were small compared with advertising revenue and the local paper played a crucial role in the fabric of a community.
The other monster stalking the land is the digital behemoth, which has transformed the way we all consume news.
The time that was once spent reading the evening paper is now more likely to be spent catching up with friends on Facebook, or even sharing hyper-local news among a WhatsApp message group.
But despite this depressing outlook – there are some signs of hope.
Crucially – and this insight stems from my 25 years spent working as a journalist – there is no decline in appetite for the kind of information which has always been the staple of local papers. We’re still humans and we are still curious, gossipy, proud and inquisitive. Anyone who can satisfy that appetite has got the basis of a business.
Newspapers have stories, opinions, pictures, statistics and information which are still of interest to thousands of people, their challenge is packaging it in a way which is relevant to how people live their lives.
Applying the editorial principles which inform what stories matter to readers must now extend to what channels are most relevant; be that apps, videos, magazines, Facebook, live events or even chat apps.
Today Trinity Mirror – the biggest UK publisher of local papers – reported a growth in profits of 24 per cent. Chief Executive Simon Fox attributed the figures to the company’s large growth in digital advertising revenue.
Many papers still enjoy high levels of local brand recognition and while sales may have dwindled, most people would not want their local paper – a symbol of identity – to disappear completely.
But others have left it too late to diversify and the harsh reality is that some once great names of the regional press soon won’t even be chip wrappers.
Figures below from the Audit Bureau of Circulation
Title
Publisher
Circulation
% change year on year
% paid-for
Express & Star (West Midlands)
The Midland News Association
54,890
-11.9
82.6
Aberdeen – Press & Journal
D C Thomson & Co Ltd
51,880
-8.1
99.4
Manchester Evening News
Trinity Mirror plc
46,738
-9.9
56.3
Liverpool Echo
Trinity Mirror plc
43,836
-16.3
97.9
Belfast Telegraph
Independent News & Media (NI)
40,042
-6.5
75.1
Dundee – The Courier
D C Thomson & Co Ltd
39,324
-8.6
99.5
Irish News – Morning
Irish News Co
35,073
-5.1
99.4
Norwich – Eastern Daily Press
Archant Ltd
34,438
-10.5
99.7
The Herald
Newsquest Media Group
28,872
-10.2
100
Hull Daily Mail
Trinity Mirror plc
27,054
-9.6
99.8
The Sentinel
Trinity Mirror plc
26,657
-13.9
99.2
Newcastle Chronicle
Trinity Mirror plc
26,578
-12.5
97.7
Shropshire Star
The Midland News Association
26,332
-12.1
96.9
Leicester Mercury
Trinity Mirror plc
25,859
-10.1
92.7
Aberdeen – Evening Express
D C Thomson & Co Ltd
25,744
-10.6
99.7
Leeds – Yorkshire Post
Johnston Press plc
25,178
-3.6
95
Darlington – The Northern Echo
Newsquest Media Group
23,971
-10.7
100
Glasgow – Evening Times
Newsquest Media Group
23,696
-14.6
100
Daily Post (Wales)
Trinity Mirror plc
21,802
100
South Wales Evening Post
Trinity Mirror plc
21,031
-13.5
100
Teesside Gazette
Trinity Mirror plc
20,973
-11.8
97.1
Plymouth – Western Morning News
Trinity Mirror plc
19,842
-10.9
100
Portsmouth – News & Sports Mail
Johnston Press plc
19,797
-12.6
99
The Scotsman
Johnston Press plc
19,449
-14.5
88.3
Birmingham Mail
Trinity Mirror plc
19,200
-20.9
100
Derby Telegraph
Trinity Mirror plc
18,903
-10.8
93.3
Southend – Basildon – Canvey – Echo
Newsquest Media Group
18,373
-9.7
99.9
Edinburgh – Evening News
Johnston Press plc
18,362
-15.8
97.5
Nottingham Post
Trinity Mirror plc
17,524
-11.6
89.7
The Post
Trinity Mirror plc
17,381
-15.9
100
Sheffield Star
Johnston Press plc
16,708
-11
100
Grimsby Telegraph
Trinity Mirror plc
16,406
-9.4
98.1
Southampton – Southern Daily Echo
Newsquest Media Group
16,369
-12.8
100
Plymouth – The Herald
Trinity Mirror plc
16,350
-13.8
100
Leeds – Yorkshire Evening Post
Johnston Press plc
16,108
-19.2
85.1
Ipswich – East Anglian Daily Times
Archant Ltd
15,852
-11.4
100
Bristol – Western Daily Press
Trinity Mirror plc
15,544
-11.4
100
News Letter
Johnston Press plc
15,475
-6.9
99.2
Wales – The Western Mail
Trinity Mirror plc
15,259
100
Dundee Evening & Weekend Telegraph
D C Thomson & Co Ltd
14,971
-11.2
99.8
Coventry Telegraph
Trinity Mirror plc
14,970
-17.3
100
Cardiff – South Wales Echo
Trinity Mirror plc
14,917
-15.4
100
York – The Press
Newsquest Media Group
14,608
-12.2
100
Bradford – Telegraph & Argus
Newsquest Media Group
13,951
-12.3
100
Bournemouth – The Daily Echo
Newsquest Media Group
13,579
-11.7
100
Cambridge News
Trinity Mirror plc
12,991
-7.7
80.8
Sunderland Echo
Johnston Press plc
12,825
-15.9
100
Newcastle Journal
Trinity Mirror plc
12,587
100
Huddersfield Daily Examiner
Trinity Mirror plc
12,046
100
The Argus Brighton
Newsquest Media Group
11,079
-8.9
92.3
Lancashire Telegraph – Blackburn
Newsquest Media Group
11,077
-12.1
85.5
South Wales Argus
Newsquest Media Group
10,808
-5.8
97.5
Lancashire Evening Post
Johnston Press plc
10,751
-13.2
100
Dorset Echo
Newsquest Media Group
10,196
-9.7
100
Oxford Mail
Newsquest Media Group
10,184
-8.9
100
Ipswich Star
Archant Ltd
10,138
-11.7
67.3
Colchester – Daily Gazette
Newsquest Media Group
9,693
-8.1
100
The Bolton News
Newsquest Media Group
9,607
-9.6
100
Swindon Advertiser
Newsquest Media Group
9,562
-8.4
98.2
Greenock Telegraph
Newsquest Media Group
9,555
-9.1
100
The Gazette – Blackpool
Johnston Press plc
9,537
-16.9
100
Norwich – Evening News
Archant Ltd
9,172
-10
100
Gloucester Citizen
Trinity Mirror plc
8,771
-19.9
98.5
The National
Newsquest Media Group
8,496
-29.9
100
Gloucestershire Echo
Trinity Mirror plc
8,124
-17.1
98.4
Burton Mail
Trinity Mirror plc
7,806
-11.7
96.9
Barrow – North West Evening Mail
CN Group
7,744
-12.8
96.8
Worcester News
Newsquest Media Group
7,061
-8.9
100
Oldham Evening Chronicle
Hirst Kidd & Rennie Ltd
6,812
-14.5
100
Carlisle – News and Star East
CN Group
6,701
-12.8
96
South Shields – Shields Gazette
Johnston Press plc
5,584
-22.3
98.1
Hartlepool Mail
Johnston Press plc
5,070
-22.8
96.1
Paisley Daily Express
Trinity Mirror plc
4,800
-6
100
Carlisle – News and Star West
CN Group
2,664
-8.4
92.4
Wigan Evening Post
Johnston Press plc
2,382
-35.7
100
The post Local papers: Diversify or die appeared first on MHP.