The Provincial Press and the Community: an historical perspective. Rachel Matthews Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies Cardiff University This thesis is submitted to Cardiff University in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. September 2014 2 Acknowledgements. This thesis owes its inception to the many stalwarts of the local papers with whom it has been my privilege to work during my time as a journalist. Their commitment and professionalism deserves much more recognition than they ever get and my hope is that this thesis goes some way to redressing that balance. My research has taken me into archives and libraries across England and I would like to thank all those people who work tirelessly to preserve the history of the local newspaper. It is a valuable and necessary job. Finally, this thesis would not have been completed without the patient support of my supervisor, Professor Bob Franklin, and the goodwill of my family, many friends and colleagues who have been cheerleading from the touchline during the time it has taken to complete. Your faith has seen me over the finish line. 3 4 Abstract. Serving the good of the community is a professional value prized by those who work in the provincial press. It is also seen as a vital role for local newspapers by those outside the industry. A localised form of the Fourth Estate, the good of the community therefore justifies and underpins the routines and news values of those who work in regional and local news organisations. This thesis investigates the extent to which this notion serves as a functional value for the English provincial news industry; it positions it within an historical context to understand its relationship with the economic structure of the local newspaper. As such, after Foucault, it constitutes the good of the community as a discursive position which functions in different ways during different periods of development for the provincial press. The history of the provincial press is charted from its inception in the eighteenth century to the present day. This history conceptualises its development within six distinct stages; as such it seeks to demonstrate the fluidity of the notion of serving the good of the community which is presented as absolute by the industry. Interviews with current workers within the industry are used to expose the way in which the concept functions for the industry today and concomitant changes wrought by digital innovation. These demonstrate that the notion functions best at those titles which enjoy direct investment in their ability to act in a way which serves the good the community; conversely it is most under threat at those titles which are increasingly removed from their locale for reasons of profit. This thesis ends with the suggestion that preserving the ability of the provincial news industry to serve the good of the community necessitates a new approach to an assessment of its value; it suggests that alternative funding models are needed if the ability of the industry to meet this goal is to be retained. Key words: provincial press, regional newspaper, good of the community, watchdog, newspaper history, journalism history, news, local journalism. 5 6 Table of Contents. Section 1. Reappraising the Provincial Press. Chapter 1. Introduction 11 Structure of the research 16 Chapter 2. Literature Review. Conceptions of the Provincial Press 22 The classification of newspapers 23 Perspectives on history 26 The journalist as ‘professional’ 30 Privileging the Fourth Estate 34 Political economy 37 Chapter 3. Methodological Considerations 44 Sources 49 Reappraising the concept of the Provincial Press 52 Section 2: The development of the Provincial Press. Chapter 4. Printers’ papers – the rise of the commerce of information 55 Early newspapers – form and content 63 The role of advertising 68 Early newspapers – The Newcastle Courant 70 The social role of the printers’ paper 75 Chapter 5. News for the masses: politics and the industrialisation of the provincial press 78 Changing circumstances – the end of stamp duty 79 Sphere of influence for provincial newspapers 80 Shifting business models 85 Early conceptions of the good of the community 89 Industrialisation and the demarcation of journalism 92 The mythology of influence 98 Chapter 6. New Journalism and the emergence of ‘news’ 101 The development of news presentation as a sales technique 104 The localised Fourth Estate as an editorial strategy 107 The influence of New Journalism on newspaper content and production 109 Organisation and wages 113 Case study: New Journalism and the Midland Daily Telegraph 116 Commercial success as an organising factor 128 Chapter 7. The growth of chain control 130 The consolidation of ownership: pattern 134 The consolidation of ownership: process 138 Newspaper costs as a driver to consolidation 144 Consolidation of ownership: Royal Commissions 147 Commercial practice and the good of the community 154 7 Chapter 8. The provincial press in wartime 157 The provincial press and the community in World War One 158 The Government and the press in the World War One 162 Publishing in the face of the adversity of World War Two: censorship 163 Publishing in the face of the adversity of World War Two: staffing 167 Publishing in the face of the adversity of World War Two: newsprint 169 Advertising in World War Two 172 The Midland Daily Telegraph and the Coventry Blitz 175 The Provincial Press and morale 180 Chapter 9. New technology and deunionisation 183 The changing shape of ownership 186 Rising costs of newspaper production 188 Competition in the regional newsmarket: broadcasting and the alternative press 191 Ceefax, Oracle and Viewdata 193 Free newspapers 195 Computerisation: the end of an era? 197 The implementation of computerisation 200 Industrial disputes 204 The legacy of new technology: working practices and content 207 Section 3. Contemporary perceptions of the provincial press and the good of the community. Chapter 10. The ‘good of the community’ and newsworkers 213 A tangled web? Relations with the community in the era of Web 2.0 223 Chapter 11. Journalists’ perceptions of the ‘good of the community’ 228 How ‘serving the good of the community’ resonates with newsworker 232 The ‘good of the community’ as a functional principle 237 Virtual communities 244 When the ‘good of the community’ rings hollow with journalists 249 Section 4. The provincial press: present forms and future forecasts. Chapter 12. Crisis – what crisis? The survival of the fittest 253 Local newspapers: shifting landscapes 254 The impact of digital on editorial working practices 265 The ideological challenge for the future of local newspapers 270 Where else lies the future? 275 Appendices 284 References 294 8 List of tables. Table 6.1: Concentration of English Provincial Dailies 1868-1910 102 Table 7.1: Chain ownership of newspapers 1921-1948 136 Table 7.2: The National Chain Publishers shares of provincial morning, evening and weekly newspaper circulations in Great Britain in 1937, 1947, 1961 and 1974 137 Table 7.3: The largest 10 publishers of provincial evening newspapers in 1974 and their share of the total circulation of provincial evening newspapers in the United Kingdom in 1961 and 1974 143 Table 7.4: The largest 10 publishers of provincial weekly newspapers in 1974 and their share of the total circulation of weekly newspapers the United Kingdom in 1961 and 1974 146 Table 7.5: Distribution of costs of newspaper production 1938 compared with 1974-77 146 Table 8.1: Changes in weekly newsprint consumption during the Second World War 170 Table 8.2: Number of daily and Sunday newspapers published in the UK in 1948 and 1961 175 Table 9.1: IOJ membership. 1972-1979. 198 Table 9.2: Technical processes used by the provincial newspaper industry. 1977 201 Table 12.1: Local newspapers: declining number of titles 1985-2014 256 Table 12.2: Circulations of selected daily titles. 1995-2014 257 Table 12.3: Top 20 regional newspaper groups. 2008-2014 259 9 10 Section 1: Reappraising the Provincial Press. Chapter 1: Introduction On 18 December 2013 the editorial team of the Liverpool Post set about putting together the final edition of the long-established and respected regional newspaper. The event – blogged live by the multi-media newsroom – marked the end of 158 years of continuous publication. Yet the demise of a once-significant daily title went largely unnoticed by the wider population; media commentator and former regional daily editor Steve Dyson hailed the decision as “common sense” (Theguardian.com, 12.10.13) citing a sale of 6,000 copies in a city with a population of 500,000. Just a handful of readers even bothered to comment on the Post’s own blog of the landmark day (Liverpooldailypost.co.uk, 18.12.13). Announcing the closure of the title in its own columns, Trinity Mirror North West Managing Director, Steve Anderson Dixon said: “The Post is a wonderful and much-loved old lady who has simply come to the end of her natural life.” (www. liverpooldailypost.co.uk 10.12.2013) The closure was an especially poignant reminder of direction of travel for the industry. Just eight years ago Granada TV (which holds the commercial television franchise for the region) featured a two-part documentary about the title to mark its 150th anniversary, indicating the significance the title still enjoyed within its region. It is also one of the few regional papers to be subjected to academic scrutiny, which resulted in the seminal work, by Harvey Cox and David Morgan City Politics and the Press (1973). Their work highlighted the relationship between the-then titled Liverpool Daily Post, and the Merseyside community. The significance of the paper – and its sister title The Liverpool Echo, was hard to miss; at the end of the 1960s they boasted a circulation of more than 96,000 and 389,000 copies a day (ibid: 43).