I’ve just read a copy of an Eastbourne newspaper. It is a model of good local news reporting with eight stories on the front page alone, which I was thrilled to see as a journalist. Inside, on packed news pages, the reports include eight court cases and three inquests. The defendants in court included a 74-year-old arsonist and a 22-year-old man who allegedly stole 43 toothbrushes. There’s a column detailing 21 crimes, including the theft of a caravan worth £9,100 and the theft of ‘a number of garden gnomes’.
Six editorial managers are listed: editor, deputy editor, news editor, picture editor, sports editor and entertainment editor. This does not include the team of news reporters. All for one town. All for 20p a copy.
Sounds like a good, trusted publication? Would you buy a copy with this level of news reporting? I would.
However, it’s a poignant window on the past. It is a copy of the Eastbourne Gazette from 18 August 1993, which I found under the carpet when I moved house.
The Eastbourne Gazette, first printed in 1859, ceased publication as a standalone title in 2016.
I cannot think of a single local newspaper which looks like this now – they have so few staff, no one routinely covers courts, inquests and council meetings as I did many years ago, and few questions are asked.
Where did it all go wrong for local news?
Around the turn of the century, a handful of tech companies launched as the internet gathered pace. They were phenomenally successful in changing how we live and communicate – but they proved catastrophic for the business model of local news.
This was because the newcomers’ business models were based on gathering data on all of us, then selling advertising.
But that advertising was the main income stream for print newspapers, not just in the UK but across the world. If you wanted to go to the cinema, buy a house, sell furniture, find a job, in fact find out anything at all, you had to buy the local newspaper.
So the business model newspapers had relied on for two centuries to fund local news reporting was wiped out within a few years.
Google was born in 1998, Facebook in 2004 and Twitter in 2006. Rightmove, so vital for house hunting and nosey neighbours, started in 2000, while Indeed, for job hunters arrived in 2004. Instagram launched in 2010 offering inexpensive, highly-targeted advertising for local businesses. They are all phenomenally successful advertising companies, even if we have been trained to refer to many of them as ‘social media’.
Most newspapers reacted by putting all content online for free and, crucially, by slashing costs – mostly staff – to the bone to try to claw back some profits.
The result in the UK has been that more than 320 local printed titles closed between 2009 and 2019 as advertising revenues fell by about 70%.
But the really serious outcome has been diminished local news reporting of issues of genuine interest. The core role of reporters in interviewing people and asking questions seems to have been largely replaced by content copied and pasted from elsewhere to provide ‘word wallpaper’ between the ads. The court cases, the inquests, the minor crimes and questionable decisions by local authorities all still happen. But you are unlikely to read much about them.
This is not a criticism of the reporters themselves – they are often working to targets to produce several ‘stories’ a day and page-view figures set by management. A comment column in The Guardian in 2023 noted a “hollowing out” of newspapers, with court reporting “replaced by write-ups of press releases, or generic national stories topped-and-tailed with a little local colour – but it is obvious to readers”.
Much content you read presented as ‘news’ is from well-established and publicly-funded communications teams. They are available to read for free by anyone.
Anyone can read Sussex Police press releases here.
Anyone can read Brighton and Hove City Council press releases here.
Anyone can read East Sussex County Council press releases here.
Anyone can read West Sussex County Council press releases here.
Many of them label their website pages ‘news’ or ‘from the newsroom’, using the language of journalism to create an impression of impartiality. But these press releases, very obviously, do not give a range of viewpoints. They comprise information written by publicly-funded communications professionals to put a generally positive spin on these organisations’ activities. No questions asked. By anyone.
As George Orwell famously said: “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.”
Research by the Charitable Journalism Project in 2022 found that in some areas, police communications officers outnumber journalists. It said that in many places, Facebook had replaced news publishers as the main way people get their local news. But that led to a proliferation of false information.
Who are the biggest local news providers in the UK?
There are three big players in UK local news: Newsquest, Reach and Media Concierge, which produce most local newspapers in print and online.
Newsquest owns more than 250 local news brands and magazines. It has 27 daily titles, including The Argus in Brighton, and has a US parent company called Gannett.
Reach, which publishes the Daily and Sunday Mirror, has around 120 national and regional brands.
Media Concierge publishes more than 100 newspapers, including The Scotsman, the Yorkshire Post and many weeklies across Sussex. It bought publisher National World in May 2025 to secure these titles.
Reporters on many of these ‘legacy media’ titles say they are required to produce several ‘stories’ a day. This is simply not possible for an article requiring planning, research and interviews. So staff often resort to finding material across the internet, often from the public organisations mentioned previously, to put forward as ‘stories’ and meet their targets.
Let’s look on the bright side
Independent news organisations which take time to write original content are slowly establishing in some areas, notably bigger cities. But every town deserves to have one, which is why I started the Eastbourne Reporter in the summer of 2022 as a qualified, experienced journalist who despairs at the state of local reporting.
It has attracted 103,000 readers in total (August 2026) even though I work mostly alone and largely voluntarily. I either write or edit every word on the website and also have two great volunteer reviewers for theatre and arts. But we still only have about 50 members paying a small amount monthly and two brilliant patrons to cover running costs.
There is a huge appetite for genuine journalism and impartial reporting but making it financially viable is the great challenge. It can work in bigger cities.
The independent Manchester Mill launched in 2020 helped by a consortium of investors to produce long reads and in-depth features, focusing on quality over quantity. It is now financially viable thanks to thousands of residents who pay a few pounds a month to support them. It has also expanded to other cities in the Midlands and North.
Reach said back in 2022 that reporters would be set minimum benchmarks of between 80,000 and 850,000 page views per month, depending on their role and which title they worked for.
But just last month Reach chief executive Piers North said the publisher’s future will be “less about volume and more about original content, distinctive brands and securing better returns”. So maybe a return to actual journalism?
The Starmer government launched the Local News Fund, which allocated up to £125,000 each for local news providers which met certain criteria. But it excluded sole traders and stipulated it was for “innovation” not “business as usual” or for creating content.
Funding for “business as usual” and running costs is exactly what most indie news people need, so the Eastbourne Reporter could not apply. Just keeping going as a lone journalist is an achievement, never mind “innovating”. (Podcasts, video and a regular newsletter would all be great, but are hard to do working alone.)
What can you do?
Well-researched news websites, which interview people and ask questions, like the Eastbourne Reporter, offer the standard of journalism that used to be readily available – for a small cover price – in printed publications across the country. Reader support is the most viable way to revive local journalism so it’s over to you!
If there is an independent news website in your area offering genuine journalism (not PR handouts), buy them a virtual coffee or make a donation. A new paying member means so much to journalists running these websites for the benefit of the community, often alone and barely paid.
You can support the Eastbourne Reporter with a regular modest donation or a one-off amount. In return, you will receive a warm glow knowing you are helping a vital community link survive and prosper.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
