What I've Been Reading: Challenges for established and independent publishers in the UK laid bare + Meta's spam problem
Plus London's local news environment as the Standard switches to weekly
Good afternoon,
My digest is back after the May half-term break here in the UK, and I’ll dive right into the digest of some things which have caught my eye in the past fortnight and hopefully prove interesting and useful reading.
There’s been a couple of interesting reports/state of the nation pieces released by two interest/membership groups in UK publishing - the first by the NMA (News Media Association) that represents the established UK publishers and the second by the Public Interest News Foundation (PINF) that is made up of a broad church of hyperlocal publishers but also other special-interest publishers too.
The NMA’s election manifesto - this outlines the imbalance there is between big tech and publishers, and the need for this to be rebalanced through the Digital Markets Bill. There’s also a repeated spend for more direct government spend and support too, across the sector.
This quote, from my former colleague Sarah Lester and editor of the Manchester Evening News stood out as it hints at the big challenge there is around media literacy, or lack of, in the UK.
“The wider public is largely unaware of how much influence Big Tech has on what is served to them to read. It’s not an exaggeration to say without action a fundamental part of our democracy is at stake.”
PINF Index 2024 - the index, which has now been going for four years, takes the temperature of independent publishers in the UK (predominantly local ones) and shows there’s a lot of common ground between those independent publishers and established players. The headwinds are similar, with an uncertain and ambiguous relationship with major platforms like Google, Meta for both revenue and audience. Plus the call for some kind of government intervention to support the sector. Here NMA, PINF and other organisations will have differing views - but the commonality is a drive for stability when it comes to a base of revenue to allow room for experimentation and growth to come across the sector.
And a very real example of the challenges faced by publishers, when one of its major distribution channels starts to shut the door, was highlighted this week by Press Gazette and the Independent Community News Network (ICNN) with reports of a number of independent hyperlocal titles having genuine news stories marked as spam. Often these issues aren’t sinister, they are indirectly caused by something well-meaning done by a platform, but this is the very direct impact they have on publishers working hard to keep communities informed. As Emma highlights, the frustration is trying to get through to the right place to explain the issue and get it resolved.
It comes as independent publishers around the UK take part in Indie News Week (with Blog Preston, the hyperlocal title I run in Preston, Lancashire taking part) to highlight the contribution made by independent titles to towns, cities, villages and communities across the country.
Decision to end Evening Standard's daily edition is heartbreaking but its history proves the power of news - Ian King, Sky News - a big decision made, but perhaps an inevitable one given the way commuting and news consumption patterns are going not just in London but elsewhere. Business-wise, newsprint and distribution will be the biggest drags on the balance sheet for the Standard although as this piece rightly points out there’s still that sad feeling when a print publication makes a major change like this and of course the uncertainty for those working there too. There is however, an opportunity for the Standard to re-define itself, as the Independent has done, and change up their rhythm and content strategy as a result of not having a daily print product to set that pace.
Coupled to this an increase in independent publishing, at a hyperlocal level there’s a raft of independent and established titles operating, and now two new entrants at a London-wide level in The London Spy and The London Minute, as Press Gazette highlight here. London may become the new melting pot and battleground for trying to find a sustainable future for at-scale local news.
That’s the round-up for this week and one last thing to flag, we’ve been beavering away on the Blog Preston WhatsApp Channel and have now seen it hit the 500 followers mark. I’ll share some more learnings again in the coming weeks, along with how we’re finding the use of SmartOcto the insights and analysis tool for newsrooms.
Have a great rest of the week. Keep going.
Ed