Initial Resarch & Background History of Local Newspapers

Within the journalism proffession it is assumed that the local paper serves as a initial starting point from which talented reporters graduate to the larger regional or metropolitan titles and then to the nationals. However the local press has its own distinct role; being the first to uncover stories where they happen, enjoying large and loyal readerships and attracting large amounts of classified advertising. Even the internet and interactive TV do not seem to pose a significant threat to the cheap local newspaper. It makes this kind of media particularly strong that should last a long time.
Nevertheless, as with any media market, threats to established titles frequency arise. Free sheets depend entirely on advertising and achieve high levels of saturation in an area. In 1970 free papers only accumulated 1 per cent of the regional press advertising revenue but 20 years on this had grown to 35 per cent. Recently, the launch of the free metro titles, distributed in the mornings on public transport has been another attempt to undermine the appeal of the paid for paper in the local community.
Editors of the paid for titles argued that the quality of journalism and the community ethos was undermined by free titles. However, readers voted with thier wallets and the existence of free sheets has inevitably seen a partial decline of the paid for paper. As both types of paper proved able to survive alongside each other, publishers began to realise that the relationship could be complimentary and useful for the national papers as communication between reporters from a local region can perhaps report on incidents sooner ans provide them with relevant information for a national headline. So nowadays the same company will often own both titles in one area. An example of this is Associated Newspapers, one of the UK’s largest publishers of national newspapers. They publish two of the UK’s most influential paid-for newspapers, the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, as well as the country’s most-read free newspaper, in the form of the national title Metro.

Here is some useful statistics I found on the median number of Local Newspaper were delivered each day and the rise in the numbers from 06 - 08.