Increasingly under corporate ownership, UK city evening papers are seen as potentially very profitable. Achieving maximum sales, however, requires reaching an audience which is socially, demographically and culturally increasingly diverse. The newspapers must produce a flow of locality-based news in a context where the locus of political and economic decisions is becoming more centralized and globalized. It is argued that the currently favoured solution to this dilemma, campaigning, holds real risks for the quality of public debate. Campaigns tend to be framed in common-sense populist terms. At best, readers are addressed as consumers rather than responsible citizens; at worst, an indefensible `outsider' is mobilized to consolidate the shaky coalition of `insiders'.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aldridge, M. (1994) Making Social Work News. London: Routledge .
2.
Aldridge, M. (1995) `Contemplating the Monster: UK Press Reaction to the Frank Beck Affair' , Sociological Review43(4): 658-674 .
3.
Aldridge, M. (1999) `Poor Relations: State Social Work and the Press in the UK', pp. 89-103 in B. Franklin (ed.) Social Policy, The Media and Misrepresentation. London: Routledge .
4.
Aldridge, M., C. Bortherton, D. Gillingwater and P. Totterdill (1986) `Nottingham: A Local Political economy', pp. 208-214 in P. Cooke (ed.) Global Restructuring, Industrial Change and Local Adjustment. London: Economic and Social Research Council .
5.
Anderson, B. (1991) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso . (Originally published 1983.)
6.
Boddy, M., J. Lovering and K. Bassett (1986) Sunbelt City? A Study of Economic Change in Britain's M4 Growth Corridor. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
7.
Carey, J. (1998) `Political Rituals on Television: Episodes in the History of Shame, Degradation and Humiliation', pp. 42-70 in T. Liebes and J. Curran (eds) Media, Ritual and Identity. London: Routledge .
8.
Chibnall, S. (1977) Law and Order News. London: Tavistock .
9.
Chippindale, P. and C. Horrie (1990) Stick It Up Your Punter: The Rise and Fall of the Sun. London: Hutchinson .
10.
Clother, H. (2001) `Law and Disorder: Covering the Courts', pp. 173-182 in R. Keeble The Newspapers Handbook, 3rd edn. London: Routledge .
11.
Cm 2621 (1994) The Future of the BBC: Serving the Nation, Competing Worldwide. London: HMSO .
12.
Critcher, C. (2000) `Madness in their Methods: Moral Panics and the Mass Media' (professorial lecture). Sheffield: School of Cultural Studies, Sheffield Hallam University.
13.
Day, G. and J. Murdoch (1993) `Locality and Community: Coming to Terms with Place' , Sociological Review41(1): 82-111 .
14.
Dayan, D. and E. Katz (1992) Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press .
15.
Dennis, N., F. Henriques and C. Slaughter (1956) Coal is Our Life. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode .
Fowler, R. (1991) Language in the News. London: Routledge .
18.
Francis, P. (2001) `Secrecy Creeps Back In' , Press Gazette 9 February: 14-15 .
19.
Franklin, B. (1997) Newszak and News Media. London: Arnold .
20.
Future Foundation (n.d.) The Renaissance of Regional Nations: Local and Regional Identity in a Global World. London: NS Marketing . (Report commissioned by the Newspaper Society and Harrison Crowley probably published 2000.)
21.
Glen, G. (1999) `Care in the Community' , Press Gazette 30 July: 15 .
22.
Glover, M. (1998) `Looking at the World Through the Eyes of...: Reporting the “Local” in Daily, Weekly and Sunday Local Newspapers', pp. 117-124 in B. Franklin and D. Murphy (eds) Making the Local News; Local Journalism in Context. London: Routledge .
23.
Goodwin, P. (1999) `The Role of the State', pp. 130-142 in J. Stokes and A. Reading (eds) The Media in Britain: Current Debates and Developments. London: Macmillan .
24.
Hall, S., C. Critcher, T. Jefferson, J. Clarke and B. Roberts (1978) Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State and Law and Order. London: Macmillan .
25.
Harcup, T. (1998) `Corr in the Community' , Press Gazette 30 October: 13 .
26.
Johnson, A. (1996) `How to Win a Newspaper Campaign' , Press Gazette 29 November: 15 .
27.
Kitzinger, J. (1999) `The Ultimate Neighbour from Hell? Stranger Danger and the Media Framing of Paedophiles', pp. 207-221 in B. Franklin (ed.) Social Policy, The Media and Misrepresentation. London: Routledge .
28.
Leather, A. (1998) `Economic News in Local Newspapers', pp. 241-251 in B. Franklin and D. Murphy (eds) Making the Local News: Local Journalism in Context. London: Routledge .
Reeves, I. and J. Blyth (1999) `Back Over Here' , Press Gazette 2 July: 15 .
37.
Saunders, P. (1980) Urban Politics: A Sociological Interpretation. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books .
38.
Searle, C. (1987) `Your Daily Dose: Racism and the Sun` , Race and Class29: 55-71 .
39.
Smith A.M. (1994) New Right Discourse on Race and Sexuality: Britain 1968-1990. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
40.
Sparks, C. (1992) `Popular Journalism: Theories and Practice', pp. 24-44 in P. Dahlgren and C. Sparks (eds) Journalism and Popular Culture. London: Sage .
41.
Sparks, R. (1992) Television and the Drama of Crime: Moral Tales and the Place of Crime in Public Life. Buckingham: Open University Press .
42.
Stacey, M. (1969) `The Myth of Community Studies' , British Journal of Sociology20(2): 134-147 .
43.
Szecowka, S. (2000) `Care in the Community' , Press Gazette 8 December: 19 .
44.
Tunstall, J. (1996) Newspaper Power: The New National Press in Britain. Oxford: Clarendon Press .
45.
Turner, J. (2001) `Powerful Information: Reporting National and Local Government', pp. 147-172 in R. Keeble The Newspapers Handbook, 3rd edn. London: Routledge .
46.
van Dijk, T. (1991) Racism and the Press. London: Routledge .
