New audience data shows impact BBC expansion is having on local news
Plus: New data shows impact of BBC on local news audiences, Beeb sets out local elections plans, Why the Belfast Telegraph was reunited with Arnie - and new ethics course from IMPRESS
Hello,
List the things local news is expected to do and it soon becomes long: Breaking news, community news, court reporting, sports reporting, council coverage, campaigning - and that’s before you even get to video, audio and social media requirements.
But how about helping to honour local traditions? It’s something we explore today with an article by Oscar Fisher of DerbyshireLive, who has become known as ‘The Live Guy’ in the town of Ashbourne, which hosts arguably the most remarkable game of football to kick off Lent every year.
Talk about a marathon stint - it’s a match which can last for days. “Walking boots falling apart, nearly 50,000 steps, 12-hour days...murderers get less but I loved every minute of it,” says Oscar, who livestreamed the whole thing on DerbyshireLive’s Facebook page.
You can find Oscar’s story further down - but first, a look at what’s happening local news this week, including the BBC’s latest growth in local news, the Bel Tel and Arnold Schwarzenegger reunited (really!), Reach passes 25k subscribers as two new titles add premium tiers, and the Beeb’s plans for the fast-approaching local elections. Plus news on a new ethics course created by IMPRESS being embraced by the Bedford Independent, and how a features writer became a life-saver in Essex.
Thanks for reading, and we hope you get to have a peaceful bank holiday weekend,
Behind Local News
This week in local news
The BBC is rapidly growing its share of the local news market at the expense of commercial publishers already battling big tech headwinds, new data from Ipsos Iris has revealed.
A total of 32.8m people read news from commercial local news publishers in February this year, down 2.7% from 33.7m last year. Page views fell 31% year on year. The Irish News and Newsquest posted year on year increases.
In contrast, the BBC - which dismantled large parts of local radio to fund teams directly competing with local online publishers - saw users to BBC News England’s website rise from 14.1m to 18.1m, and page views rise 52% year on year to 211m. It’s in this part of the BBC’s website that the journalism produced by the 130 new journalists mainly appears.
The data also reveals just 2.9m of BBC News England’s readers aren’t also using local news publishers for information, suggesting that the Beeb’s increased output is coming at the expense of time spent with publishers already in the market.
While it has far fewer local news reporters than local publishers, the BBC has been accused of actively targeting high-interest stories, which publishers rely on bringing in large numbers of visitors to underwrite other stories which the BBC isn’t investing in, or to help drive subscriptions.
Regulator Ofcom, which insisted the BBC’s expansion wouldn’t have an impact on the local news sector, revised its view late last year, describing the Corporation as an ‘additional headwind’ facing publishers. Its data revealed that the BBC wasn’t increasing market share in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, where it has not diverted radio spend to online. The News Media Association has urged the Government to act.
The BBC has set out how its journalists will cover the local elections taking place in May, promising ‘live and local’ coverage from towns and cities where voters live and work, along with coverage from counts on your local BBC radio stations as results come in on Friday, May 8.
BBC Local will focus on the issues that matter most to communities, such as housing, transport, Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) provision, social care, and the continuing cost-of-living pressures facing households across the country.
The organisation’s Your Voice initiative is back bringing contributions from voters across England, reflecting the concerns of voices who are often underrepresented in traditional political reporting. Your Voice will also spotlight the everyday pressures facing working families.
The BBC also plans to regularly turn to local people from audiences in areas where all seats are up for election – including Bradford, Birmingham, Coventry, Sunderland and Swindon. These individuals will question local candidates and help reflect local voices and be heard across BBC Local radio, TV, social platforms and online.
On April 28, the BBC will dedicate a day of coverage to social care issues, covering care homes, waiting lists, staffing challenges, bed-blocking and the impact on the NHS.
The BBC has also promised borough by borough coverage of the London elections, with ‘case study led profiling of the potential battles in the capital.’
Robert Thompson, Interim Director of BBC Local, said: “We will spotlight the local issues that we know matter to our audiences where they live and bring their voices to our coverage throughout. We want to give voters a clear and easy-to-navigate picture of what local politics means for them and what’s at stake where they live.”
Two more local news website from Reach have launched premium tiers of journalism for readers to subscribe to.
BelfastLive and YorkshireLive launched earlier this week, meaning Reach has rolled out to 10 sites since November.
Sheena McStravick, editor of BelfastLive, said: “Whilst this change might be an adjustment for some of our readers, the majority of our trusted journalism will still be free to access. We know that money is tight for many of our readers, and we want you to be able to access breaking news, key information and the news you need about your local community without paying.”
Wayne Ankers, editor of YorkshireLive, said: “Thanks to our website we are reaching more people than ever before each day. And now we are launching Premium to ensure our readers continue to enjoy our best content and help them feel closer to our campaigns and the issues we shout about.”
Paul Rowland, in charge of Reach’s local news titles, revealed that more than 25,000 people were now subscribing to premium news tiers at titles across Reach, while Graeme Brown, editor-in-chief at BirminghamLive, said this week more than 1,000 people had signed up in the last month after his title added a partial paywall.
The former Belfast Telegraph photographer who took one of the best known photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger before he was famous has been reunited with the star during a visit to Northern Ireland.
Schwarzenegger, in Belfast to receive an honorary doctorate this week, met Roy Smyth, who took the famous photo in 1966 when the actor turned politician was a 19-year-old bodybuilder whose talent had been spotted by a Northern Ireland gym owner who had seen him compete in Amateur Mr Universe in London.
He also met one of the two women who appeared in the photo being lifted up by Schwarzenegger, taken outside the Bel Tel’s old offices. Both Sandra Weir, and the late Deirdre Cullen, worked at as advertising reps at the newspaper at the time.
Roy said: “I took the picture at the back gate of the Belfast Telegraph 60 years ago.
“It didn’t mean much at that time, because he was unknown. But in my years at the Telegraph I took tens of thousands of pictures and this is the only one that kept coming up throughout the 60 years.”
A local news publisher has become one of the first journalists in the country to be accredited by one of the UK’s press regulators as an ethical journalist.
IMPRESS, the Royal Charter-approved regulator, launched its Creating Ethical Media and Journalism course, saying it as the first professional accreditation in journalism ethics.
Bedford Independent publisher Paul Hutchinson, whose title is regulated by IMPRESS, is one of the first to complete the course. He said: “Ethics very much underpins what it means to be a responsible modern journalist. Just in the short time since gaining this accreditation, I’ve already challenged my own prejudices about some of the things I may write myself.”
Much of the local Press is regulated by IPSO, launched following the Leveson Inquiry amid concerns that having a regulator determined by a Government-created process could threaten the independence of the press in the UK. It was criticised at the Society of Editors conference by culture secretary Lisa Nandy recently for failing to issue a single fine, and its low rate of upholding complaints.
Basildon Echo features writer Emma Palmer has hit national headlines after writing a story about a teenager needing a kidney transplant - before going on to become the donor herself.
Emma was contacted by the family of Maya Solecki after the 16-year-old had fought back from an e-coli infection but had been left needing a new kidney as a result. Her family were hoping Emma would write an appeal for potential donors.
Emma did that - but ended up being the donor herself after being matched through tests. Dozens of other people had offered to donate but were found not to be matches - including 12 members of Maya’s own family.
Maya’s mum Maria said: ““It was such a dark time. We were desperate and so many of our friends and family were being tested but none were a match. That’s when we decided to go public in our appeal to find someone and we contacted the Echo.
“I never thought in a million years that the journalist I emailed would be the one to actually give Maya the kidney.”
The Oxford Mail pulled off arguably the best of the local April Fool’s jokes this year - telling readers plans were afoot to bring a monorail to the city.
And if that feels a little too much like a well known episode of The Simpsons, well yes, the article - by reporter Matt Simpson - leant very heavily on the famous US cartoon.
Clues abounded in the article, including: Lyle Lanley, the developer behind the project, estimates the cost to be in excess of £3bn and is being funded by an anonymous energy tycoon who goes by ‘Mr Snrub’.
Matt also added: “Mr Lanley has also developed a monorail for Springfield in America, but declined to comment on reports that it malfunctioned on its maiden voyage.”
The image, clearly credited as being made with AI, did look pretty impressive - you can read the full story here.
I’m ‘The Live Guy’ and, despite my blisters, I’ll never stop loving Shrovetide
By Oscar Fisher
The curtain has been drawn on another incredible Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide, and this year may have been my favourite yet.
It was my third year running the livestream on the Derbyshire Live Facebook page, and this year we covered every minute of the game as it travelled through narrow streets, rugged woodland and soggy fields.
It is said to be the last surviving example of mass football and is one of only a handful of games of its kind to be played annually in the streets of the UK.
It ended 3-0 to the Up’ards, with Ash Wednesday in particular providing some brilliantly fast-paced play, ending with what is believed to be the quickest goal ever scored after the ball being turned up, which came at around 6.54pm - just 24 minutes after the ball was turned up for the second time.
Days after, my feet were still swollen and blistered, my shoulder seemed to have lost some movement, and a little bit of my soul remained in the Derbyshire Dales.
But the overarching feeling is one of pride, knowing that we provided some of the best coverage of the game itself - even if that means walking with a limp for the next few days.
I picked up a new nickname, “The Live Guy”, which was often hurled at me whenever I was standing shoulder to shoulder with Ashburnians, who became increasingly fascinated by me and my selfie stick as the ale continued to flow.
Some people might mistake the whole thing for a vanity project, especially because I, an outsider, am getting up close and personal with what’s known as a “local game, for local people”, but it’s far from that.
My two livestreams, which were eight hours and six hours long - all uninterrupted - were viewed nearly 200,000 times across the two days, better than we could have ever imagined, but the goal isn’t to spread word far and wide - instead, it’s for lovers of the game who can’t make it.
One viewer was as far away as Budapest, another was in the USA, and I’m pretty sure someone said they were from the Cayman Islands.
But a lot of people were from Ashbourne - people who used to follow the hug from start to finish, but can’t anymore - whether it be due to disability, work commitments, or old age.
This is where the sense of pride comes in.
I remember after the ball was goaled to make it 2-0 on Wednesday, a man approached me at the Greenman pub and said: “Thank you for everything.”
A little perplexed, I asked why, and he said: “I’ve been working all day, I was gutted I couldn’t be here, but I’ve been following your stream every step of the way - it’s been amazing.”
Just as my legs were starting to give and the adrenaline was wearing off, this gave me that boost to keep going, and the silly antics continued from there.
I love the game, I love following it, but was I happy to see the ball goaled for the final time on Wednesday, allowing me to get home before the watershed for once? Absolutely.
One of my favourite things about Shrovetide is the speeches, and chairman Nigel Brown seemed to be on a roll this week.
He told the crowds on Ash Wednesday, in the wake of a pane of glass being broken on the high street the day prior: “We will not take this any longer, and if it happens again, play will stop.
“And that’s not this year, that’s for years to come, because it can’t go on like that anymore. There’s got to be some sense.”
The thought of this game ever stopping is unfathomable for a foreigner like me, so I can only imagine what it truly means to the town.
Sure, we see other similar games across the country, such as the two-hour Atherstone Ball Game down in Warwickshire, but Shrovetide is much more of a sport than the glorified punch-up we see a few miles south-west, in my opinion at least.
It’s one of Derbyshire’s prized assets which should be protected for years to come, and I’m sure it will - especially after receiving royal assent for the second time two decades ago, when the ball was turned up by then-Prince of Wales, King Charles.
I’m sure I’ll be back next year - in fact, I’m slightly worried at what might happen if I don’t.
The Ashbourne people know what I look like, they know I live in Belper - so the last thing I want is a hug of Facebook viewers turning up at my door asking for more. Just take my word - I’ll see you next year.
Derbyshire Live has published dozens upon dozens of articles, video interviews and photo galleries over the last few days, and you can even view my entire 16 hours of footage on our Facebook page.