Newsquest faces criticism from Christian media

Sometimes the vibrant cut and thrust of the corporate media world, particularly regarding revenue focus, can seem cold and callous.

People often take second place to profits.

For many Christians working in the media, the daily search for profits can seem at odds with a need for a calm and reflective search for God.

Newsquest Plc has been in the trade press a great deal over the past 12 months, as it tries hard to streamline its regional publishing operations to combat competition from fellow giant Trinity Mirror. The latter recently absorbed Local World and this dominance could well threaten Newsquest's market growth in regional news.

Newsquest's business strategy seems to be one of making savage cuts of staff. Last year several longtime employees were shown the door, photographers were axed and journalists issued with camera phones and told to multi-task. News reporters were issued with strict quotas and ordered to deliver a targeted number of scoops per week. Not easy.

Even paperboys/girls were not immune from this profit streamlining, as their tiny wages were made monthly rather than weekly so as to cut payroll accounting costs.

While it may seem unfair to single out Newsquest as an example of corporate pruning (there are others wielding axes) the double standards of the current local press agenda does deserve highlighting.

On the one hard regional media makes great play of saying they are all about helping support, promote and enrich the locations their newsbrands cover. Yet at the same time they exploit and disregard their own staff, who are usually themselves local people.

The big decisions, of course, are often made far away, safely in boardrooms in other larger towns and cities.

In Newsquest's case, in other countries, as this UK regional publisher is, in fact, American owned, part of the US giant, Gannett Incorporated.

Boardrooms, or at least, good conscience exist for all of us. In one way or another, we are all answerable to boards or to other people. Good Orderly Direction (GOD consciousness) is a necessary fact of life.

Even a traditional church service is something like a shareholders meeting - no, vicar, I don't mean it's boring, although this sometimes could be the case!

A good sermon sets the agenda and we listen, evaluate and choose weather to invest, or not. We search ourselves and search for God, and His will for us.

As Christians working in media, it is this key Sunday meeting that can set the pace for the working week.

True streamlining is made by finding, then actually following a path God has mapped out. The result of a successful God-quest.

Regional media (and as far as a Goliath organisations such as the Gannett Corporation/Newsquest are concerned, the UK is just another of their many regions) offers lucrative rewards. Corporations know this well. Communities welcome their investment. But they won't if profits are ruthlessly placed before people.

The good news is that the vicar's weekly sermon repeatedly assures us that God is not lost.

Sadly, corporate media responsibility often is.

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Duncan Williams has a background in faith publishing and is a researcher and part-time lecturer church and media communications.

Poole Old Town

LET'S GET DIGITAL!

Written by Local Reporter for @PoolePost

The Bournemouth and Poole area is credited with an astonishing growth in IT companies which rank among some of the UK's most successful. Good news for local commerce flourishing within what is sometimes called the Silicon Valley of the south.

But what advances are on offer for those who are just starting out in the digital jungle and may feel a little overwhelmed or excluded from accessing the world wide web?

"We want to include our tenants and leaseholders as much as possible," states Sandra Willson, PHP's resident involvement coordinator. "And have been delighted by the positive turnout and interest generate by our TRUST : Digital Engagement & Inclusion (DE&I) training day."

A day of real opportunity for tenants to find out more about the internet.

Keynote speaker Sarah Furness kicked off the morning with a thought provoking summary of the basic challenges faced by many in the age of advanced information technology. Delegates broke into groups and brainstormed ideas and shared back experience.

Elderly people, disabled residents and those struggling with severe debt, can so often be among the main groups of people left feeling painfully isolated if the ability to communicate is denied them, either through lack of basic IT skills or financial constraints.

Speakers at the DE&I training day addressed these issues and offered a range of solutions and contact information of organisations that help ease the obstacles of gaining digital access.

One delegate who is partially sighted explained how her world expanded significantly when someone helped her to download an App which enabled emails to be read aloud and helped her connect with friends and engage in debating within the social media community.

All that was needed to start was the time for someone to explain how the system worked and the funding (comparatively small) to install the App.

Residents at PHP's newly redeveloped Sterte block have been quick to utilize social media and have created their own social media Facebook group where members can publish helpful tips, offer unwanted items (such as furniture) to their neighbours and publicise community events. All rather like a good community newsletter; free, local and online.

Maybe the professional regional newspaper industry might like to review its sometimes hostile policy toward perceived rival content providers? Rather than distract and diminish locally based minority news publishers, bloggers, tweeters, YouTubers, why not embrace them?

Social responsibility expressed by a strong, established local newspaper brand, offering free WiFi access or hotspot login platforms, might genuinely be mutually rewarding for both community and local business.

As print newspapers decline, ad funded hyper local news platforms could be set to thrive as web channels and become vibrant focal points for neighborhood communication.

Readers now have a voice and certainly have opinions. Communities can be enriched by simple, old fashioned talking and listening. Widening inclusion possibilities helps us all to become more creatively interactive and less receptively passive.

Again, and put simply; communication needs a good two way flow. And the all too often the silent voices of the marginalised, financially disadvantaged, aged or physically vulnerable, do need to be heard.

The TRUST: Digital Engagement and Inclusion training day has helped empower ideas for conversation. Let PHP tenants lead the way and let's get started with it. Let's get digital. Let's get involved.

Free to use IT facilities are available in PHP's Beech House and nearby Poole Library currently has free training sessions and tutorials.