Following the article on Stephen Davies’ blog about the growth of PR this link seems to offer some kind of proof that the importance of regional PR is growing.
The phrase “regional PR consultancies understand regional audiences,” is becoming a bit of a hobby horse for me so I promise not to say it again for a while. This said, the ofcom report shows that the regional print media is suffering far less from the coming of age of the internet than the nationals
(I’m not sure if I’m allowed to copy and paste from the bbc website, if I’m not can someone post a comment and I’ll take the graph down.)
Possible reasons for this: 1. Local news papaer readership is, on average, older and thus (again on average,) less engaged with the internet than nationals.
2. People read their local / regional paper for a sense of community which they don’t get from the internet.
3. Regional newspapers are able to tailor the product to fit the audience in a way that nationals cannot.
I’m sure there are more reasons that I haven’t thought of but the “whys” of this are certainly worth discussion. The future’s local…
6 comments
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August 14, 2006 at 11:04 am
Stephen Davies
Interesting stats Sam. Thanks for the link.
August 14, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Simon Collister
Interesting stuff, Sam, I like a Monday graph to start the week!.
In relation to some of your thoughts…
1. it is possible that regionals may have an older readership… but that’s not good either as it means readership is still technically falling. Readers die out and younger readers fail to connect with print.
2. I was also thinking about why onine stuff is considered social media while your local rag isn’t. I concluded that the online allows a living, social community to exist whereas a local paper is like Web 1.0 – a paper speaking out to a static community it thinks exisits. This point links into the previous one… ie. this stasis can’t continue for ever.
One major role for local/regional papers (and one which is being usurped by Craigslist in the US) are classifieds. But as Craigslist shows not even this area of the press is sacrosanct.
August 14, 2006 at 3:39 pm
Stephen Waddington
Regional agencies aren’t the only route to regional publications. If you take that argument to its local conclusion, a nationwide company would need to hire an agency in every major city if it wanted to develop a UK wide regional programme. What’s required is an agency that understands the needs of local media, and is able to deliver the appropriate content.
August 14, 2006 at 4:02 pm
Sam Oakley
Hi Stephen (Waddington not Davies)
Thanks for commenting. I agree to an extent. There’s nothing to stop a London Agency running a regional media campaign, especially if they are a good agency (which is more important than where they come from.)
This said, the cultural divide between for example rural North Yorkshire and London does mean that an agency that is well grounded in that culture is more likely to understand the regional audience.
August 15, 2006 at 7:32 am
David Phillips
Sam
I think it is a mistake to imagine older people not engaging with the Internet. You may find that the 40/50 somethings are not up to the job but the trend is for increased use by grey surfers.
The concept of community is one that evolves quite quickly when people discover social media. It is not something that print media can rely on for long.
Regional blogs and web sites have a very special place. Yesterday the M$ blogging community gave us a blow by blow account of traffic problems because the M$ was shut for five hours. Faster ad more personal that th local paper.
This is not to say that local (or national) media is going to die but for the practitioner, there is a critical need to be able to engage on-line as well. Relaying on print is no longer an option and, for CIPR members, probably negligent.
August 15, 2006 at 9:28 am
Sam Oakley
Absolutely David, can’t agree more.
The comparison was between regional and national print media not between print and electronic media.
With regards to older people, I did specify “(on average).” The central thrust of your comment though, is absolutuely true.
Thanks for the comment, I have now added a link to your blog.
Sam