NEWS

THE BBC has agreed to spend £ 8 million a year of its hard-pressed licence fee income on employing 150 local reporters around the country . They will supply copy not just to the BBC but to local commercial media , helping to plug the “ democratic deficit ” in local journalism .

One effect of the plan agreed with the big commercial newspaper chains is to subsidise their editorial forces and permit yet further cuts in staff . According to most estimates – nobody has counted them – well over half of the 12,000- plus journalists on local papers prior to 2008 have lost their jobs .

The local press is 80 per cent owned by three companies : Trinity Mirror , Newsquest and Johnstone Press . For 20 years they have been hacking away at their costs as they lose advertising and sales to maintain what are still high levels of profit .

Numbers of reporters have fallen so far that the vital institutions of civic life – notably local courts and council meetings that take a lot of reporting time – are simply no longer being covered . This “ democratic deficit ” has long been a worry , and the BBC has responded to appeals for help .

It will fund the salaries of 150 “ local democracy reporters ”, funded by the BBC , but they will be employed by existing media , or “ qualifying news organisations ”.

These must be existing news publishers “ within or close to the relevant authority area ” who provide content in multimedia formats and already employ journalists trained to recognised standards .

The reporters will be distributed around the

Savage cuts have led journalists at the Newsquest group ’ s south London base to strike to save their papers . A newsroom that had 38 journalists a year ago now has 18 – to produce

UK , with for instance three in Northern Ireland , 11 in the West Country and 12 in London and the South East .

Their stories will be available for use by the news organisations and the BBC , and through a “ news bank ” to outside media organisations shortly after transmission .

They will concentrate on top-tier local authority areas – more than 350 authorities at country and district level . Effectively they will have to focus on the big stories , leaving an unfilled gap for covering covered parish or local events .

There is no way that 150 reporters are going to replace the 7,000 thrown out of work , but they might improve the papers a little , since existing reporters are highly office-bound , churning out pages from press releases and

11 weekly titles . Last year the US-owned Newsquest made profits of £ 70million – 25 per cent of turnover .

material sent in by the public .

It has taken months for the BBC to negotiate this deal with the News Media Association , the UK press ’ s trade association .

They said in a statement : “ Following months of detailed work and consultation with the providers of local journalism right across the UK , including the hyperlocal and local TV sector , the BBC and the NMA will now take forward agreed proposals which aim to invest in the local news media , increase coverage of public services and institutions and use the expertise of both the BBC and the local news sector for the benefit of all audiences .”

They might have added : “ They will also give local newspapers the cover to sack more staff and improve their profits as well as their coverage of local affairs .”

NUJ

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6 Free Press Spring 2017