There are probably a couple of sore heads amongst North West public relations types today, given last night’s CIPR Pride Awards at Manchester’s Deansgate Hilton. Over on the other side of media life though there are more worrying signs of suffering, with one of the region’s key newspaper titles set to reduce its print runs significantly.
The announcement was made this afternoon, and comes after we reported on how the NUJ had warned Welsh media was approaching crisis point as a result of severe job losses in last week’s Blagger’s Blog. And, while the Liverpool Daily Post losing six staff by changing from daily to weekly is less dramatic, and should hopefully help ensure the paper can survive in the modern media climate, there’s no denying it’s a reflection of wider fortunes in the industry, not least as the 156 year old title is owned by the largest group in the UK, Trinity Mirror.
Perhaps the biggest sign of just how far sales of regional titles have fallen is the fact that in February of this year The Guardian reported the Post had actually increased circulation by over 5% in the last half of 2010, which still meant a 13.2% decline in the overall year. Content will now only be updated daily online, with the print edition available on Thursdays from 2012. With so much history behind the publication it would certainly be a shame if the new measures don’t stabilise the balance sheets, and that’s certainly not just speaking from a coverage perspective. As ever then, we look on with hope as to what could happen next in the ever-unpredictable industry.