• by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, November 4, 2019

Local newspapers are in a bad place. There is no hiding the fact that every week there appears to be another community losing its local paper as circulations drop and digital advertising revenue makes barely a dent in print losses.

So, the BBC training up 150 journalists to cover local courts and council meetings seems like a good idea. After all, it is the BBC that dominates online news in the UK. No other newspaper publisher or tv news brand comes even close to its reach.

' In fact, the only business that gets close to its level of news attention in the UK is Facebook -- which, of course, strenuously denies being a publisher but rather defines itself as a site that users can post news stories on. 

My assumption was that the BBC was so dominant in national and local media that it was going to continue to stump up the cash to run the Local Democracy Reporting scheme, and with the support of the News Media Association, that is what has happened so far as the embryonic idea has got off the ground.

For the future, however, it's a grey area because, as The Guardian reports, the BBC is now asking companies to support the scheme which it claims holds local authorities to account. The paper makes the point that US philanthropists have a history of keeping local news organisations going, so communities do not lose a local paper and the powers that be in that area know wrongdoing will be reported. 

The issue was highlighted by the Cairncross Review, which concluded in February that the plight of local newspapers was a threat to local democracy and more needed to be done to help papers, and their websites, keep the lights on. 

Facebook is currently in the middle of a two-year programme of spending GBP4.5m to create, train and support 80 local news reporters. The BBC scheme is upping the proverbial ante by providing 150 journalists who if the scheme's expansion continues would be organised via a charity. For that to happen, the charity would need to raise funds to keep the writers paid up and reporting from country hall and court rooms around the country. 

Tony Hall tells The Guardian that the only way forward is for companies to donate, and as he puts it, "give local people they journalism they deserve."

It is a heartening rallying call. The only problem is, it is hard to imagine who will come forward to fund the scheme. JPI Media is in talks to sell all of its local news titles to Reach, which will leave it and Newsquest as the two main players in the local media industry. Would these companies want to fund journalists whose work is shared? It's unlikely. 

Facebook will probably point to the aforementioned scheme to show it is doing its part. Google could potentially argue the same through its partnership with Archant to establish how local news can work in the online era.

It is hard to think of a company outside the existing local newspaper groups, the BBC, Facebook and Google that might come forward with the funds to keep the local democracy project growing with an enlarged remit. 

Will national newspaper groups think of it as a route to do the right thing and ensure the traditional flow of young hacks training on local papers before going to a national remains a viable option. Possibly, but unlikely. Will the tech giants want to go beyond their current partnerships? Hard to know but, again, quite unlikely.

Other than these media players, it is hard to think of any company that would have an interest in keeping local newspapers going. Which leaves us with philanthropy, and so far that has not proven a successful hunting ground for local newspapers. 

So, it's hard to think that anyone will rally to the BBC's call to keep local journalism alive when, the corporation itself, could be seen as at least part of the problem through its dominance in UK news traffic

For embattled local titles, then, it's hard to see a saviour coming forward to fund content they can use for free.