Slides from BBC Innovation Academy session on 21st Century Local News: http://www.bristolmedia.co.uk/2011/3/28/bbc-innovation-academy-21st-century-local-news

1. BBC Innovation Academy: 21st Century Local News A personal take on where we are, and where we may be going Damian Radcliffe 1st April 2011 damian.radcliffe@ofcom.org.uk @mrdamian76

2. Running Order – nine ideas in as many minutes (ish) State of Play Defining local Does local matter? Current consumption Ofcom’s role Delivering our statutory duties as set out in the Communications Act Providing regulatory and technical advice to Government Undertaking and publishing research Crystal Ball gazing Hyper-local Social Media Impartiality

3. 1. State of Play - understanding local news today 3

4. a. Definition of local ‘Local is whatever you can relate to’ (F 40s Oxford) ‘It’s towns near me. Or where I can walk, without getting in the car’ (F 60s Darlington) 4 Source: Ofcom ITV regional news deliberative research 2008

6. Individual perception

7. Location

8. Size of population

9. e.g. regional boundaries can be considered national in Scotland, Wales and Ireland

10. As a result, definitions of community vs local vs regional media differ by individualSource: Ofcom qualitative research 2006

11. People define local as their town, city or village Definition of local area Immediate and surrounding Surrounding and wider Wider region Immediate location % of UK adults 16+ Source: Ofcom local media survey, 2009, Q1What do you think of when we talk about your ‘local area’? Base: UK adults (n=1034). Rural (n=278); urban (n=756) 6

12. b. Localness matters 7

13. Consumers value local and regional content – particularly news 8 % saying local and regional content is very important - weekly users Scores based on respondents importance rating 9/10 on a scale of 1-10. Source, Ofcom research

14. Local news and weather are most important local content Importance of local content SCALE: 1 = not at all important and 10 = extremely important Mean score 8.1 6.9 7.1 7.6 7.2 7.1 7.0 6.8 Source: Ofcom local media survey, 2009. Q11 How important are the following types of content to you? Base: UK adults using each source at least weekly (Local news n=969; Local sport n=514; Travel information n=490; Weather information n=785; Life & community n=640; Events/entertainment n=643; Council updates n=374; Classifieds n=449) 9

15. Local media plays role in providing information and keeping people in touch with local community Statements about aspects of local media Net Agree Net Agree Net Agree Source: Ofcom local media survey, 2009, Q3 To what extent do you agree or disagree with each statement?Base: UK adults (n=1034) 10

16. 11 Local media can play a functional or emotional role in people’s lives Features people and places I know Weather Newsworthy incidents e.g. crime Local interests – sports and politics Traffic updates Job listings FUNCTIONAL “Things I need to know to help me live in my local area.” EMOTIONAL “Things I want to know to feel like I belong to my local area.” Signposting events Town planning and developments Celebrating local events Council services Entertainment Opportunities to get involved in local issues INFORMATION INFORMATION AND REPORTED NEWS Source: Ofcom Local media qualitative research, 2009

17. c. Current consumption 12

18. News is most popular type of local media content Local content consumed via each media Source: Ofcom local media survey. Q9 What do you use each media for? Base: UK adults who use each source at least weekly (Local radio n=598; Local newspapers n=739; Regional/local TV n=947; Websites n=240) * Note: Base for Council publications too low to show (n=38) 13

19. TV has remained consistently high as main source of local news – newspapers have declined 14 Which if any is your main source for news and information about local area? Ofcom’s Media Tracker, 2002-2009

20. But proportionately newspapers more important locally, with TV as main media source for all news Main media source used for local, UK and international news Source: Ofcom Media Tracker 2009, ‘Can you tell me what if anything is your main source of news about what is going on in your local area/in the UK/ in the world?’ Base: all UK adults (n=2114) 15

21. Regional / local TV news most frequently used of all local media Frequency of use Source: Ofcom local media survey, 2009. Q4 How often do you do each of the following? Base: UK adults (n=1034) 16

22. TV more important for nations news than any other medium Main media source used for nations news Source: Ofcom Media Tracker 2009, ‘Can you tell me what if anything is your main source of news about what is going on in Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland?’ Base: n = 180 in Scotland, 118 in Wales, 103 in Northern Ireland 17

24. On Channel 3, share was down 3% in Wales and 2% in Northern Ireland, while share was increased in Scotland by 1% compared with five years ago.BBC One 18:30 Channel 3/ITV 18:00 Source: BARB, 2009, 2005 Note: ITV regions are used for this analysis, and so BBC One share does not correlate exactly with distinct BBC regional news programmes

25. Nations/Regions news share has held up for both BBC and ITV since 2005 The share of viewing of Channel 3 and BBC One evening nations/regional News programmes in 2009 compared to 2005 shows that the average UK share of the main weekday evening nations/regions news fell by 2% on Channel 3 compared with 2005, but held steady on BBC One over the same period. BBC One 18:30 ITV 18:00 Source: BARB, 2009, 2005 Note: ITV regions are used for this analysis, and so BBC One share does not correlate exactly with distinct BBC regional news programmes

26. 2. Ofcom’s role includes:Delivering our statutory duties as set out in the Communications ActProviding regulatory and technical advice to GovernmentUndertaking and publishing research 20

28. Maintaining sufficient plurality of providers

29. Licensing national and local analogue and community radio stations

31. Considering new regulatory approaches to content regulation

32. Content regulation remains relevant for the protection of adults, minors, the democratic debate and individuals as subjects of the media22

33. 3. Crystal Ball gazing.... “ There are known knowns; there are things we know we know.We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know. ” Donald Rumsfeld “Nobody knows anything.” William Goldman ...Clearly futile, but still, let’s have a go... 23

34. a. The emergence and growing importance of hyper-local 24 ....And the web more generally... Big Society Launch, No 10, 18 May 2010

35. People are consuming more local media online Use of local media now compared to two years ago Source: Ofcom research, 2009 25

36. b. Everything is social 26

37. Social isn’t just driving search, it’s also driving what news people read. “ 75% of news consumed online is through shared news from social networking sites or e-mail. Social news is finding us.” Mashable, Summer 2010 Click-throughson news stories or items friends post to their Facebook wall. Following trends via a twitter #tag. Social bookmarking like Del.icious. And many, many more….

38. c. Impartiality 28

39. Is impartiality on television outdated in the internet era? "There was a logic in allowing impartial broadcasters to have a monopoly of the broadcasting space. But in the future, maybe there should be a broad range of choices? Why shouldn't the public be able to see and hear, as well as read, a range of opinionated journalism and then make up their own mind what they think about it? "The BBC and Channel 4 have a history of clearly labeled polemical programmes. But why not entire polemical channels which have got stronger opinions? I find the argument persuasive." Mark Thompson at a Whitehall seminar on impartiality in broadcasting, Dec 2010 Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/17/mark-thompson-bbc-fox-news

41. 28% felt it was important.

42. Only 1% of respondents felt that it was unimportant. Respondents were then asked how important they personally felt it was that news from a variety of different sources was impartial. A strong majority of respondents felt that it was important for television news to be impartial (93%), followed by radio (89%), then newspapers (88%), internet (79%) and magazines (73%). Source, Ofcom PSB Report 2010 – Information Pack H 30

43. Thanks for listening. 31 damian.radcliffe@ofcom.org.uk @mrdamian76