Councils face being told to make life easier for local journalists
Plus: Local news audiences rise; Oxford Mail hits out at Trump; Bel Tel expansion announcement; Two more Reach sites add premium tiers
Hello,
Welcome to the weekly Behind Local News newsletter.
There’s been a lot of talk about what the Local Media Strategy may contain when it is published later on this year.
In browsing Hansard this week, we found a reference we weren’t expecting: Plans within the strategy to compel councils to be more open with information.
The logic goes that the better scrutinised local bodies are by the media, the better they are delivering the services they are supposed to.
What comes from this train of thought remains to be seen - we’ve got a deeper look at what’s being said, and the challenges currently faced, at the end of this email.
But first, a look at some of the news from local news this week.
In local news this week:
📈 The number of people reading local news in the UK rose 7% year on year, new figures from Ipsos Iris have revealed.
A total of 35.6m people read local news from commercial publishers in December 2025, up from 33m in December 2024.
It was also a rise on November’s audiences, with 35.1m people reading local news in November 2025.
It means 67% of the UK population is reading local news every month, with people in Northern Ireland most likely to be reading independent local journalism - 75%.
The same data shows that 38% of 18-24s and 54% of 25-34s are getting local news every month from trusted local news sources.
🆕 The Belfast Telegraph has announced it is creating 11 new journalism jobs, and opening a new district office in Derry-Londonderry.
Recruitment is under way for eight digital-first local journalists covering the north west, Co Armagh, Co Down and greater Belfast, followed by three new journalist creator roles.
Executive Editor Martin Breen said: “It will not only strengthen our connection with readers right across Northern Ireland, but also help us reach the next generation of audiences in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.”
💰 Two more Reach titles have launched premium subscription services. The Daily Record and LeicestershireLive both went live yesterday with the new service, following on launches on WalesOnline, the Liverpool Echo and the Manchester Evening News.
Record Editor-in-chief Neil McIntosh told readers: “We know that money is tight for many people, and that access to news is vital in a democracy. But the truth is: journalism costs money. You can either pay for it through advertising, or through supporting a better Premium experience with fewer ads, investing directly in local reporting.”
East Midlands Editor-in-chief Natalie Fahy told readers in Leicestershire: “Premium will give our storytelling, reporting and analysis a sustainable future.”
💊 EdinburghLive’s investigation into the easy availability of synthetic opioids on the capital’s streets is to be discussed in the Scottish Parliament.
Journalists from the title went undercover reveal the ease at which heroin, thought to have been cut with nitazines, can be purchased on capital streets. A tenner bag of the lethal cocktail - said to be 500 times stronger than fentanyl - can be bought for less than a packet of cigarettes.
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "The Scottish Government should also move ahead with new drug checking facilities and rolling out a network of safer drug consumption rooms across the country, because help cannot just be limited to Glasgow. I will be raising EdinburghLive's powerful investigation in parliament."
🇺🇸 The Oxford Mail cleared its front page to illustrate the anger felt by readers after Donald Trump questioned the commitment of NATO soldiers in Afghanistan during his war of words with European leaders last week.
Editor Andrew Colley said: “RAF Brize Norton in the west of the county was the main transport centre for personnel and equipment and the repatriation hub for fallen soldiers.
“Residents regularly paid tribute at processions through the streets as those heroes were returned home.
“As well as scrutinising the President’s comments, our special report looks back at the stories of those killed and pays tribute to them.”
💻 The Bury Times was forced to remove articles from Facebook after being deluged with anti-semitic comments.
In the last week, the newspaper has reported on the opening of the first female-only Jewish bath house in the borough and also on survivor-led Holocaust education programme arriving in borough schools in the lead up to Holocaust Memorial Day.
Roughly 1,900 and 3,000 Facebook comments were posted respectively across each of these posts, and unfortunately, at least 60 to 70 per cent of those comments were anti-semitic, news editor Andrew Topping told readers.
Readers posted comments and images featuring outdated religious tropes, denied the existence of the Holocaust, and made a large proportion of our community here in Bury feel marginalised at a time of significant international tension.
Editor Richard Duggan said: “I’m so angry we had to take this step but we felt it was important to address the abhorrent antisemitism we have seen left in Facebook comments in two recent stories. We won’t tolerate it.”
🏆 The deadline for the British Sports Journalism Awards entries is February 4. There are 30 categories to enter, including regional journalist of the year, which last year was won by Joe Thomas, who covers Everton FC for the Liverpool Echo.
Details on how to enter can be found here.
🏅 Entries will open on Monday for the Society of Editor’s News Podcast Awards 2026.
Honouring journalism that shapes the national conversation, the awards will feature 10 categories including News Summary Podcast of the Year; Investigative Podcast of the Year; True Crime Podcast of the Year; Showbiz & Entertainment Podcast of the Year; Political Podcast of the Year; Royal Podcast of the Year; Scoop / Interview of the Year; Business & Economy Podcast of the Year; Best Regional or Community Podcast and Podcast of the Year.
Full details of how to enter the awards and criteria can be found here.
Beefing up a reporter’s right to know what’s going on at a local council - what does Government have planned?
Councils and local public bodies face being told to do more to help local reporters hold them to account as the Government seeks to find ways to support regional journalism.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy made finding a way to support local journalism a priority when she took office in July 2024.
Since then, much of the industry discussion has been around the business model support Government could provide. The News Media Association previously asked government to focus on AI and copyright legislation, tighter control of an expansionist BBC, and valuing UK media as a place for advertising.
A Local Media Strategy is due to be published by the DCMS this year, and in a question raised in the House of Lords, it emerged that plans are being worked up to improve access to information, seemingly seen as a critical way for Government to help support journalism.
Baroness Twycross, pictured above, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, told the Lords: “Last year, DCMS commissioned research into the relationship between local news provision and local public service performance.
“That research has helped inform our plans for the Local Media Strategy to support local journalism. As part of the Strategy, we want to better empower local media to hold local public services to account, and we are exploring whether there is more that local authorities can do to support the vital role that local media plays, for example through increased openness in providing local journalists with access to information.
“More detail will be announced on the Strategy and our commissioned research in the coming months.”
Baroness Twycross added: “Local press plays a vital role in scrutinising local authorities and supporting democratic engagement at local level, and there is a wealth of evidence relating to how audiences engage with this role.
“Ofcom’s most recent Local News and Media Survey found that nearly half of UK adults use local media to seek out local government information, such as local council updates or plans.
“The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism’s most recent global survey of news audiences found that people consider local newspapers and other news media to be a better source of information on local politics and government than online platforms, to a greater degree than for any other type of local news or information.”
It remains to be seen what changes could be brought forward. Common complaints among journalists covering local bodies include meetings often being held in private, decisions being taken away from meetings and attempts to subvert the principles of Freedom of Information access.
It’s not the first time this topic has been before parliament
In 2024, a House of Lords committee looked into the future of journalism, and in evidence to the committee, publisher Reach, responsible for over 100 local news titles in print and online across the UK, set out some of the challenges journalists face, including:
Police: All communications now go through press offices, some of which are excellent. However, unlike in the USA where it’s still expected that most information on crimes will be shared, police now only share what they choose to, often only doing so when it could aid the solving of the case. The result is that lots of crime goes unreported in the media.
Councils: An ever-increasing amount of information being discussed ‘behind closed’ doors or taking decisions under delegated powers. In some cases, authorities restrict access to councillors via the press office. Information when presented in council reports can be limited. This makes it very hard for journalists to report.
Courts: The closure of many magistrates courts, and the centralising of some crown courts, makes it far harder to cover court. Newsrooms also report many wasted trips to court for cases which have already moved, or are immediately deferred. Getting information in advance remains a challenge, while the expansion of the Single Justice Procedure threatens the principle of ‘for justice to be done, it needs to be seen to be done.’
Freedom of information: A once powerful tool has been heavily diminished in recent years as authorities in many cases proactively seek reasons not to release information, or simply don’t comply with legislation. The ICO appeals process can take weeks or even months, thus reducing its effectiveness.
Reach’s chief content officer, David Higgerson, told the committee: “At the very heart of local journalism is the need to get accurate information to people in a form they can trust. At the moment, much of the public sector in the UK works against this principle.
“20 years ago, as a reporter, I could ring three different CID departments every day and get the details of every crime committed. These would make ‘shorts’ or ‘briefs’ in the newspaper that day. The net effect was that people were better informed.
“Such access is now denied. Over the last two decades, however, access to such information has massively diminished. Often this is because parts of the public sector have put greater emphasis on brand protection rather than public communications, or have dispensed with services supporting the media due to budget cuts.”
Would local politicians comply with new rules?
Newsrooms have also found themselves battling against increasingly challenging local politicians. In recent months, NottinghamshireLive was banned by the new Reform UK leader of the county council after he took offence at coverage of proposed local government reorganisation. The ban was subsequently lifted.
In Bristol, journalists regularly found themselves clashes with the former mayor of Bristol. Marvin Rees went so far as to ban Local Democracy Reporters from attending his regular briefings with the media after questions were asked about his decision to fly to Canada to give a short talk on climate change.
And in Hillingdon, London, LDR Philip James Lynch was told officers would no longer speak to him after politicians took offence at some of his investigations.
Beefing up of legislation enshrining the public’s right to know can’t come soon enough.