Interesting piece in InPublishing by Peter Sands, who was an award-winning editor of the Northern Echo from 1989 to 1993, on the decline of editionising in the regional press.
When Peter was editor of the Echo it had six editions but now has just two. Many daily regionals now have only one edition, which are in some cases printed the night before, and have scrapped their sports specials on a Saturday.
Peter, now a newspaper consultant and designer, says: "Most of today’s editors, if they haven’t done so already, are concluding that editionising is now an expensive luxury. But in doing so, they also recognise that its demise is another milestone in their newspaper’s decline."
What a shame, editions seem to fit the whole philosophy of "ultra-local news" that is unique and cannot be obtained elsewhere. Peter does point out that the Express & Star, Wolverhampton, persists with eight editions - and is the biggest selling regional evening in the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment