Why must local papers make such big profits?
I WAS HEARTENED to read Victor Noir’s comparisons between the importance of local media and local football clubs (last issue). If anything his analogies could go further, though caveats need to be added.
It’s certainly true that both local journalists and local football clubs are regularly subjected to patronising and ignorant lectures about how redundant their role has become in a globalised market, and to counter that it’s vital to stress that local media, like local football clubs, have a social worth that goes beyond crude assessments of market value.
Neither are inherently profitable; so what?
But we should be wary of lauding the football club model. Having written regularly about the game’s finances I’ve come across too many examples of clubs being asset-stripped, having their grounds sold from beneath them, or just brought low by plain incompetence.
Where football might point the way though is in the example of the supporters’ trust movement. Fans’ trusts have taken over a number of clubs in recent years — usually in response to serious crises — and though it’s been a difficult process in some areas, what’s important is that clubs’ futures have been safeguarded by an ownership model that is open and democratic and not at the whim of bogus wealthy “philanthropists”.
Given the range of organisations and people who still rely on, and have a stake in, local journalism, we could surely use this idea to rally broader support from readers and journalists alike to develop a more sustainable future.
Tom Davies
NUJ NEC member for London
London E17