Good post from Gary Andrews on the latest developments in commercial local radio – reduction in news and another step in the withdrawal from genuine local production and new gathering.
‘Chief among these are the scrapping of local news bulletins between 11am and 3pm, to be replaced with a national news bulletin, and the outsourcing of its travel news.
‘Granted, this will save money. It’s also so short-sighted it’s beyond belief. By consolidating assorted operations, Global is slowly, bit-by-bit, taking away every last remnant of what makes local radio stations unique.
This is a real world example of the generic trend i wrote about here – commercial ‘local’ media can’t afford to remain local. This is a threat to local voice and democratic expression. Free or cheap modern digital media such wordpress driven by community organiser volunteers who anyway have a burning need to communicate seem the only hope for true local media.
William Perrin
Latest posts by William Perrin (see all)
- So what does the digital charter mean? - 21st June 2017
- Hyperlocal blog can help hold power to account in tower block blaze - 14th June 2017
- A vision for regulating the digital sphere after Brexit? - 6th April 2017