We ‘baby boomers’ had soaked up our news from print. I think we kept our local newsagent in business with a weekly order of two dailies, three Sunday papers and several locals. That slowly changed. The Herald started to be delivered later so that often I had already left for work. By the time I got home I had usually seen it somewhere else. Gradually the emphasis shifted online and then to digital editions. Now thanks to my library’s subscription, I can read nearly every newspaper and magazine there is for free using the Press Reader app. My local Ayrshire Post used to run to well over 100 pages and cost about 30p. This week’s edition has 48 pages and costs £2.50. No wonder I choose to read it online. Access to Press Reader has also opened my eyes to another development. Nearly every newspaper carries the same stories, often syndicated so they are the same word for word.
I have been the local Labour press officer for election campaigns since the 1980’s. In that time the printed media has changed out of all recognition. It used to be essential to get to know the local journalists who covered political stories and also the photographers who worked for each local paper. A well written press release was almost guaranteed to be printed unaltered as it saved the journalist the hassle of rewriting someone’s clunky effort. Submitting your own photograph was frowned upon by all of us on the left as close to blacklegging. Nowadays, ownership of locals is in the hands of only one or two publishers, journalists are shared across several titles, it’s standard practice to send your own pictures and online versions are seen by a far greater readership than printed versions, as circulation numbers plummet. We have also seen the arrival of ‘local democracy reporters’. These are a trade off funded by the BBC in return for being allowed to expand its local news coverage. They work for local papers placing stories about local authorities and public service organisations. But nowadays, even a well written interesting press release often never makes it into print.
During previous elections, political parties started moving away from wooing political journalists to signing up celebrities to send supportive tweets and attempting to win over YouTubers with millions of followers. This election has seen the focus shifting further towards winning over more “authentic” influencers with smaller but loyal followings. The parties are intent on targeting the ‘micro-influencers’ on Tik Tok and Instagram. The intention is to cut through to niche audiences who spend their time scrolling through videos on their phones. Political parties have begun to produce influencer-style content themselves, circumventing a dying local news industry. I’m not sure I even understand what I have just written but I do know it’s happening. - “Stop Press: Zoomers 6 Baby Boomers 0”.