Warnings of crisis in newspapers

The state of the media industry of Wales is being reviewed

With two newspapers closures and 16 redundancies it has not been a good week for the Welsh newspaper industry.

Warnings that things could worsen have been made by former Independent editor Ian Hargreaves, who is looking at the situation for the assembly government.

He says advertising revenue is slowing down in the weaker titles and a shift to the internet has not yet delivered cash rewards papers are used to.

Editors of some of Wales' best selling newspapers have also expressed concern.

But calls for the assembly government to intervene with extra cash have been rejected by some of editors.

The job losses came as Media Wales axed the Neath and Port Talbot Guardian newspapers and re-organised production staff at its headquarters in Cardiff.

Spencer Feeney, editor of The South Wales Evening Post, said the industry was "battered".

Former Independent editor, Ian Hargreaves, who is undertaking a review of the Welsh media for the assembly government, said weaker titles were "vulnerable" as advertising revenues move from the local press to the internet.

CIRCULATION FIGURES South Wales Evening Post: 46,069 South Wales Echo: 36,361 Daily Post: 33,938 Western Mail: 32,926 South Wales Argus: 26,667 Wrexham Evening Leader: 19,437

This week also showed the other side of the newspaper industry, with The Sun apparently in rude health after infuriating delegates at the Labour conference by announcing its endorsement of the Conservative party on the night of Gordon Brown's keynote speech.

For the Welsh press it is a different story.

The latest circulation figures show all of Wales' regional papers down between 6% and 12%.

Spencer Feeney, who edits Wales' best-selling newspaper, the South Wales Evening Post, blamed the dire results on the recession.

"When people are worried about their jobs and money is tight and they're economising one of the things they do tend to economise on is newspapers," he said.

Former Western Mail news editor Duncan Higgitt said the papers had to reconsider their content.

It's a very very vicious and competitive world that they're in Ian Hargreaves

"People are telling me they don't feel stimulated to go out and buy these newspapers anymore," he said.

"Sometimes they are perceived to be too London-centric, to be chasing a story that's been done elsewhere and often done first and better.

"It's also to do with what's not being done - like there's not a huge focus on Welsh affairs."

But there may yet be hope for newspapers, although it comes as a double-edged sword.

Mr Hargreaves, whose report into the state of the Welsh creative industries will be published in the new year, said new opportunities may not be as fruitful as old business models.

"It's a very very vicious and competitive world that they're in," he said.

"But it's not all downside.

"The fact is that the newspaper companies are all very rapidly piling in to online.

I think that there's an argument for public support to be given to enable small newspapers particularly to be able to survive, Leanne Wood, AM

"The problem with online is that it hasn't so far had as rewarding a commercial environment as newspapers did when they were very strong within their own individual local or regional markets."

He insists he is keeping an open mind on what recommendations he may make.

Plaid Cymru Assembly Member Leanne Wood, however, is already calling for government intervention in the industry.

"I think that there's an argument for public support to be given to enable small newspapers particularly to be able to survive," she said.

"The real concern at this moment in time, is small community local newspapers, but I wouldn't rule out looking at anything in the long term that would create and maintain a very healthy newspaper base in Wales."

'Editorial independence'

Any cheques making their way to Swansea would not be cashed under Spencer Feeney's reign, however.

"That's very kind of her but I'm not sure if we'd want to take the money," he said.

"Perhaps my managing director might take a different view on that but as an editor I'd be concerned about compromising the editorial independence of the product."

The industry insiders are warning of tough times to come. The Western Mail has shipped almost half its readers in just over a decade, while advertising revenue across the board fell 5% between 2001 and 2008. Further falls in circulation and income are not sustainable.

"Owners will cut and run if the money's not there to be had," said Duncan Higgitt.

And according to Mr Feeney: "Some titles will close, but that doesn't mean that the regional press as an industry has no future.

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