September 10th, 2019
Local Democracy Reporters Generate 3,500 Stories in a Week
The UK regional news industry generated 3,500 stories in a single week based on the work of Local Democracy Reporters.
In the first survey of its kind registered partners of the BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) were asked to record all the stories they used from the scheme between June 3 and June 9. 聽The 3,500 published or broadcast items were created from 1,350 individual stories filed by LDRs. 聽The report found that three quarters of the stories were used as major or lead items. Lead items were defined as front-page print articles or the top item on a website or broadcast bulletin, while major items were those used as print page leads or top-three items online or in broadcast bulletins.
Launched at the beginning of 2018, LDRS is part of the Local News Partnership 鈥� a collaboration between the BBC and the News Media Association (NMA), which represents news brands in the UK. 聽The BBC funds up to 150 reporters to report on local authorities. Employed by the publishers, reporters are deployed in regional newsrooms and report to editors at their host title, but everything they write is published to a news wire for use by any approved news outlet, including local media publishers and the BBC. 聽Matthew Barraclough, head of the Local News Partnerships, said: 鈥淭he research confirmed that 98 per cent of all content produced by LDRS was used by at least one partner, and that the majority of content was used as either a lead or major item.
The service was created to support public service reporting and sustain local democracy. It is pleasing, therefore, to see that stories created by Local Democracy Reporters are being used in such volume by news partners across England, Scotland and Wales.
The study found that 52 per cent of the stories were used online, 37 per cent in print and 11 per cent on TV and radio. The surveying company, DRG, also found that news outlets that use the LDRS gave it a 鈥榮atisfaction鈥� score of 75 per cent. 聽Jeremy Clifford, chair of the NMA/BBC advisory panel and editor-in-chief of JPI Media, said: 鈥淭he results of this survey show that the Local News Partnership is generating significant amounts of local public interest journalism which publishers and broadcasters want to use for their audiences.
The scheme has been an outstanding example of effective partnership. We believe there is ample evidence to support the recommendation by the Cairncross Review for this service to be expanded with more journalists reporting more widely and deeply into the affairs of public institutions.
Another study of its kind is due to be conducted later this month. 聽The LDRS is part of the Local News Partnerships, which also includes the Shared Data Unit and News Hub. The Shared Data Unit shares in-depth reports based on carefully collated statistics and is staffed by BBC journalists alongside reporters seconded from the regional media. The News Hub gives outlets access to online and television news content from the BBC鈥檚 newsrooms in England, Wales and Scotland.
The BBC has committed up to 拢8million a year to fund the LNP. The survey recorded an overall satisfaction score for the LNP of 72 per cent.
Notes to editors:
There are more than 115 media organisations signed up to the Local News Partnerships, representing more than 900 individual news titles or outlets.
The service is due to be launched in Northern Ireland shortly
The survey was carried out by DRG
To find out more about the LDRS and LNP visit this link or contact Jack Pitts on jack.pitts@bbc.co.uk or 07834 845545 or Paul Sinker on paul@newsmediauk.org.