Here is the News.

I'm surprised they used stock images when they could have just generated those too.

Local journalism is such an incestuous industry that the idea you could launch like this with made-up staff is crackers. Everyone has worked with everyone at some point.

This seems like something with no upside.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d41a6e04-1aad-11ee-8198-bf96b6365670

Grifters.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/04/capt-tom-foundation-closes-to-donations-as-council-orders-building-demolition

Dark twist ending: metro.co.uk/2023/05/19/captain-sir-tom-moore-biopic-officially-in-the-works-and-we-cant-wait-18810502/

Indeed, which is why I questioned why Abi came out so strongly. She must realise the people she p!sses on, on her way up, will be the ones she needs on her (fairly imminent I'd guess) way down. Naivety of youth, arrogance, self-importance?
Although she's not the first journalist to join one of these independents to rant against a previous large media group employer, so I wonder if it is something their bosses push for, as a bit of promotion.

I'd not seen that HTFP story but you're right, it's certainly brave (although she's totally correct). That warning about an incestuous industry was one of many valuable things I was taught by my first editor 20-odd years ago.

He said exactly what you did here, namely don't unnecessarily fall out with people because you can guarantee you'll come across them again either on the way up or back down.

As a cub reporter, I was also told the same thing by my editor. I know we’ve done this before, but the state of local journalism is mind bogglingly awful.

Of probably little interest to most of you, but still I think quite important, is Ontario this week announcing firstly a large new nuclear power plant at the site of an existing one that is coming close to the end of its life, and then following up with approval for three new Small Modular Reactors at a different location. Given how bad Canada is when it comes to its emissions, and given how cunty the Conservative provincial government is in Ontario, it was a pleasant surprise to see us doubling down so much on nuclear energy.

I'm not sure completely right. Yes, there is a bit (too much?) of hit-chasing these days, but her ranting about how much work she was expected to do is way off the mark and smacks of entitledness/laziness (when I started donkeys years ago, eight stories a day was the bare minimum. Admittedly we didn't have to write the headline etc back then, but still...).
Now she has a "fortnight to do one story" that she feels like writing about. That is not a model which will last and then who will she sh!t upon?

Well I guess the model she is looking for is the Substack one. There are probably people there supporting themselves with enough subscribers happy to pay for one piece every week or two.. but they’ve carved their own niche and built that following.. not wandered out of Uni and found someone to put them on payroll and leave them to it.

She doesn’t seem to be wrong about the total hellscape that is local news.. but if there is a solution* to that, she certainly doesn’t seem to know what it is.

Was there ever a time when people were truly willing to pay enough for local news to fund local journalists doing it? Even before the internet, it felt like things like sports coverage and real-estate were what got people to buy local papers, not having someone around doing useful work covering council meetings and all that.

* is the solution to just let it die and hope that something new and not abysmal evolves? Is what is there now a net good for the people it is supposed to serve?

When I worked on an evening paper in the mid 70s it was profitable enough to fund a move to expensive purpose built premises close to the town centre for the office and print works. The rival local paper also built a new place. We published three editions daily, plus a weekly title and the Saturday night football paper, had a full time reporting staff of about 30 plus three photographers and countless local contributors.

I didn’t stick around long so have no direct experience of what was probably a slow decline until the internet came along and local papers gave away their content for free, the only thing they had of any value.

I read the point she was making as: in my old job, we were expected to file a ruck of click-baity stuff quickly. At my new place the emphasis is on quality over quantity so I get the opportunity to spend more time working up a different kind of story.

It's a different sort of pressure, I guess. If you're given more scope, and crucially time, to find 'proper local news' you need to make sure you're consistently digging out the yarns your rivals aren't, which is a different skill. That takes practice, a solid contact list and a smart way of working it.

I'm frankly really glad I'm not a journo. It doesn't sound fun.

I think that the Evening Post bloke, the King of Car Colston, sold the company for £93 million in 1994. That would appear to have been quite a smart/fortuitous bit of business.