The future of newspapers

I see the BBC has been discussing the future of the regional and local press.

They are a bit slow off the mark. Others have been examining this issue for a while. Steve Rubel wrote about this a whole year ago! Craig McGinty also examined this topic back in May 2006.

I totally agree with Rubel and McGinty that local media need to engage their readership to survive. In my county, the Chester Chronicle (a weekly appearing on Fridays) has finally got round to launching new sites. Firstly, the main news site has been revamped, offering updates on a regular basis instead just on publication day. The Chronicle has also launched a very useful What's On guide, which will surely earn its keep. The news site appears to be offering readers the opportunity to comment on stories as they are published.

Scooping myself

I've been in possession of news of a hot local scandal for a month, during which time I've been itching to break it. I haven't, precisely because it's time-sensitive and I was waiting for the right time to crack open the story. Plus, I didn't want to land someone else who was involved in the proverbial and there was the thorny issue, too, of losing a valuable business contact if I attached my name to the story.

Matters came to a head last night as it was time. After pondering the options this morning, I rang the local paper, anonymously, and tipped them off. To my delight, the journalist I spoke to revealed that the paper was already investigating the scandal but from a completely different angle and the information I passed on was something they hadn't known of. The paper, of course, will get the scoop and I won't get any credit for my part.

I'm a bit gutted that I won't earn anything from this, but I shall be satisfied by seeing an even bigger version of the story splashed (on the front page, with any luck) later this week. And I'll be glad that the public will at last learn that they had been fooled.

On a brighter note, I've just landed a regular pitch for a foreign publication. It was touch and go for a while, as the publisher dithered over whether to pay me the rate I had asked for. Today I had confirmation that I would get the fees I want, so it's full steam ahead.