THE SURVIVAL OF THE NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY ON BBC ALBA
BBC ALBA Monday 13 June, 9pm
The newspaper industry has undergone many changes in recent years. In the past five years alone, sales of newspapers on a national level have fallen by as much as 30 percent. The expansion of television to a multi-channel world offering 24/7 news, and the impact of the internet and new technology have all changed the way that we consume news today, all of which form the discussions of a new documentary on BBC ALBA.
Trusadh ‘Papers in the New World, focuses on the way in which local newspapers have been affected and asks the question ‘what lies ahead for the industry as a whole’? Presented by journalist, Murray MacLeod who is based in the Western Isles, the programme explores the reasons why journalists work in today’s newspaper industry.
Political journalist, Torcuil Crichton, from the Daily Record commented: “You always feel that this will be your last year within the newspaper industry because the industry has declined so much in the past 10-15 years. Sometimes when you go into a newsroom in Glasgow or Edinburgh you wonder where all the people are.”
Torcuil Crichton also notes that newspapers make use of the internet, encouraging their readers to be journalists themselves: “They’ll ask ‘Have you heard anything? Do you have pictures? What’s your story? Write into us. So listeners and viewers almost become part of the news.”
The documentary meets lecturer of journalism, Dr Sallyanne Duncan from the University of Strathclyde and MLitt and Postgraduate Diploma Journalism students.
Dr Duncan said: “Deadlines are pushed further and further back now. There’s less time and there are fewer people in a newsroom so we end up with what is known as ‘churnalism.’ This means trainees and other reporters have to take press releases or copy from the wires and use these to fill their pages rather than actually having the time to go out of the office to source stories.
“Local newspapers are really the bedrock of democracy and if the local papers are not able to provide that service by sending reporters to council meetings or to the courts then I think that’s going to have a very serious effect. It’ll mean that people will eventually disengage from local democracy. They won’t know what their councillors are up to.”
She added: “My students are still very motivated to go into local newspapers and into national newspapers but increasingly I’m seeing them interested in magazines, online and video journalism.”
Jennifer Ross, MLitt journalism graduate from the University of Strathclyde, said: “I think its national newspapers that are having the most trouble and that local newspapers are doing okay at the moment. You can only find out about local news in your local newspaper. In a local sense I think newspapers will still be around in 20 years time.”
The programme visits the Skye based West Highland Free Press, who recently became the UK's first employee owned newspaper. Is this a model that would work for others? In Uist, a local newspaper, Am Pàipear, has twice been named Community Newspaper of the Year for the Highlands and Islands recently. What is the secret of its success?
Produced by MacTV for BBC ALBA ‘Trusadh: Papers in the New World’ will be broadcast on Monday 13 June at 9pm.