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- Wednesday 14th February: The tools and trends that will shape the next decade of local news
Wednesday 14th February: The tools and trends that will shape the next decade of local news
Happy Valentines! Today’s newsletter is brought to you by Chris.
In the fourth and final episode of our special podcast miniseries — all about how local news will be funded and produced — we hear from even more experts in the field of regional news creation. This time, we’re looking at the tools and underlying trends that are going to change the face of local news and how audience interact with it.
In this episode you’ll hear from strategists and decision-makers from DC Thomson, Table Stakes, Rue89 Strasbourg and Social Spider among many others, all sharing their vision for what news publishers should expect over the next few years.
Just because this miniseries is over doesn’t mean it’s the end of our examination of local news businesses. As we’ve said countless times on the podcast local news is the bedrock of both journalism as a vocation and the fourth estate in general. If you know any interesting local news stories you’d love to see featured on Media Voices, don’t hesitate to send them our way.
And speaking of… the Public Interest News Foundation’s Jonathan Heawood is arguing for the necessity of local news in the Guardian. He’s highlighting some of our own favourite outlets, but also makes the case that getting the government to support them is absolutely vital. You can argue for or against government intervention in news provision until the cows come home, but nobody’s contending that the alternative — a dead local news sector — is any better.
Yeesh, the first couple of paragraphs of this story are… not pretty. As the financial strictures of the past few years have hit the public’s pocket books, so too has their support for news organisations dwindled (understandably). But as this case study of inside story demonstrates, it is still possible to succeed in that landscape provided you get your messaging, cost base, and mission properly squared away.
One publisher is about to embark into the world of podcasting and is looking for some advice from other publishers on getting started. Join the conversation.
Finally, some good news! Or at least broadly positive news, anyway. Germany’s Axel Springer has appointed a US leadership team for the first time, with the remit to protect and facilitate the future growth of its brands in the ol’ US of A. We’ve always been fans of Springer at Media Voices; it’s been very adept at making investments in high-growth areas, so it’ll be interesting to see what this leads to.
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