Futureproofing local news: State of the market

As part of a special four-part podcast series, supported by the Google News Initiative, we’ve been talking to publishers and experts across Europe who are working to find resilient business models. We spoke to them about the state of the local news market in their regions, how they’ve evolved company culture and practice, and what tools and trends they’re working with to prepare for the next decade.

In this first episode, we look at some of the historical context around the state of local news, shifts in the UK and European markets, and what ‘good’ local news might look like. We also do a deep dive into some of the issues facing the UK local news market, as well as the continuing value of local news to communities.

Experts featured in this episode:

• Doug Smith – Lead architect, Table Stakes
• Pierre France, Co-Founder, Rue89 Strasbourg
• Craig Walker, Editor, Press and Journal and Evening Express, DC Thomson
• Jonathan Heawood, Executive Director, Public Interest News Foundation
• David Floyd, Managing Director, Social Spider
• Prof. Dr. Wiebke Möhring, Professor of Journalism, TU Dortmund Institute for Journalism
• Benedicte Autret, Head of News Partnerships, UK/IE/Northern Europe, Google

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This series is supported by the Google News Initiative. They work with publishers and journalists to fight misinformation, share resources, and build a diverse and innovative local news system. Find out more about their programmes, tools and resources at newsinitiative.withgoogle.com