Well researched, well written and very factful, and the kind of disclosure at the end we should see a lot more of.
Bringing this murky nexus of journalism and advertising to public attention is an important job. It's just a pity there are so few independent local journalists like you to do it, as Reach, Newsquest, JPI Media, Archant, Tindle and Iliffe has snaffled 9 in every 10 local title into their corporate maws.
As you observe, there may well be nothing illegal about everything you describe, but that doesn't mean many ordinary people would be quite shocked, or at least surprised, by the detail.
Reach will be delighted at your article, though. Any impression that paying them a lot of ad fees confers king-maker status on them is very good for business. Cambridge Analytica lapped up similar attention too, until their criminality caught up with them.
Unfortunately, Reach, along with the other 5 media conglomerates who now own around 90% of every surviving British local newspaper title, is probably not doing anything criminal.
Journalists like us may deplore the way they're traducing journalism's name by claiming to do local journalism when they're actually cogs in a global advertising platform, but it's likely only metaphorically, rather than legally, 'criminal'.
Having said that, if anyone had deep enough pockets to fund a lawsuit accusing Reach, Newsquest et al of 'passing off' as newspapers, the public viewing gallery would be packed, and disclosure might turn up some very interesting evidence.
For the moment, all we can do it what you've done so meticulously here. Point, shout and holler, using facts, in the hope that enough of their dwindling readership will come across articles like yours on social media platforms like Substack that have been eroding their business model over the last 20 years.
But all is not lost. New non-profit, open source social media network See Through News (full disclosure - I founded it) has a scheme called The See Through Newspaper Review Project. It is a public media literacy campaign, designed precisely to bring fake journalism, robot-written content with human bylines, and advertising-in-disguise to public attention.
I've recently unveiled details of it on a Facebook Group of the same name, and also on this very platform. The long-fuse bombshell comes at the end of a 4-part series. Part 1 starts as a book review of Roger Lytollis's 'Panic As Man Burns Crumpets: The Vanishing World of The Local Journalist, but ends somewhere more positive, and intriguing. It will probably require ex-corporate editors and reporters to post in it to make it work at scale, but we're pretty sure most will be happy to do so one they clock what we're up to.
If you're into spoilers, just type the name of your local conglomerate-owned newspaper into the search bar on Facebook, and filter for Groups...
Excellent article, Joanna, thankyou.
Well researched, well written and very factful, and the kind of disclosure at the end we should see a lot more of.
Bringing this murky nexus of journalism and advertising to public attention is an important job. It's just a pity there are so few independent local journalists like you to do it, as Reach, Newsquest, JPI Media, Archant, Tindle and Iliffe has snaffled 9 in every 10 local title into their corporate maws.
As you observe, there may well be nothing illegal about everything you describe, but that doesn't mean many ordinary people would be quite shocked, or at least surprised, by the detail.
Reach will be delighted at your article, though. Any impression that paying them a lot of ad fees confers king-maker status on them is very good for business. Cambridge Analytica lapped up similar attention too, until their criminality caught up with them.
Unfortunately, Reach, along with the other 5 media conglomerates who now own around 90% of every surviving British local newspaper title, is probably not doing anything criminal.
Journalists like us may deplore the way they're traducing journalism's name by claiming to do local journalism when they're actually cogs in a global advertising platform, but it's likely only metaphorically, rather than legally, 'criminal'.
Having said that, if anyone had deep enough pockets to fund a lawsuit accusing Reach, Newsquest et al of 'passing off' as newspapers, the public viewing gallery would be packed, and disclosure might turn up some very interesting evidence.
For the moment, all we can do it what you've done so meticulously here. Point, shout and holler, using facts, in the hope that enough of their dwindling readership will come across articles like yours on social media platforms like Substack that have been eroding their business model over the last 20 years.
But all is not lost. New non-profit, open source social media network See Through News (full disclosure - I founded it) has a scheme called The See Through Newspaper Review Project. It is a public media literacy campaign, designed precisely to bring fake journalism, robot-written content with human bylines, and advertising-in-disguise to public attention.
I've recently unveiled details of it on a Facebook Group of the same name, and also on this very platform. The long-fuse bombshell comes at the end of a 4-part series. Part 1 starts as a book review of Roger Lytollis's 'Panic As Man Burns Crumpets: The Vanishing World of The Local Journalist, but ends somewhere more positive, and intriguing. It will probably require ex-corporate editors and reporters to post in it to make it work at scale, but we're pretty sure most will be happy to do so one they clock what we're up to.
If you're into spoilers, just type the name of your local conglomerate-owned newspaper into the search bar on Facebook, and filter for Groups...
https://robertstern.substack.com/p/crisis-in-local-news
And thanks again for this public service, Joanna.