For years, they have softened advertising dollars, and it will damage democracy if local and regional newspapers have to succumb.
This is the opinion of Steffen Damsgaard, chairman of the Rural Joint Council.
He supports a call from the National Association of Local Authorities (KL) that the parties at Christiansborg should raise media support for the hard-pressed local and regional newspapers and their media houses.
– This is about a country in balance. In a democratic balance and a news balance. So you know what is happening in your own area locally and regionally, but then you also get a national picture of what is happening throughout the country – also in Thisted and in Tønder, says Steffen Damsgaard.
In an interview with the Constructive Institute, which is an independent journalistic center for journalism, KL chairman Jacob Bundsgaard (S) has advocated that total media support should increase.
In 2020, the media support amounts to approximately DKK 360 million, which will be distributed among approximately 70 media.
Bundsgaard is mayor of Aarhus, and he does not want to put a figure on how much support for local and regional media should increase. But it should be raised and not taken from the nationwide media, he believes.
This is a topic that the Rural Joint Council has long sought to put on the agenda.
– I think it is absolutely necessary that the media support for them is raised, says Steffen Damsgaard.
The local and regional media have been under financial pressure for decades, and the corona crisis has only worsened the situation, says municipal researcher Roger Buch from the Danish School of Media and Journalism.
– If we look ahead, we are in a struggle for survival for a number of newspapers, he says.
For the past year, the newspapers Morsø Folkeblad, Helsingør Dagblad and Skive Folkeblad have been threatened with closure.
According to the Constructive Institute, they have only survived because they have either been acquired or merged with Nordjyske, Jysk Fynske Medier and Midtjyllands Mediehus, respectively.
When newspapers die, it can mean that citizens get to know less about the close community around them.
– It is the municipalities that provide the service to us in the elderly area, schools, day care institutions, roads, culture. One can almost be tempted to say that it all comes from the municipality.
– It makes the municipalities very different, and it means that it should be the place that has the most media coverage and attention. But that’s not the case, he says.
Many young people find out about society via social media, and they skip the local newspaper. Nevertheless, Louise Brincker, CEO of the industry organization Danske Medier, believes that local and regional newspapers and media houses should be strengthened.
– I hardly think it is new that young people orient themselves more outwards and away from the place where they live. Conversely, one can see that when they start families and new homes, it takes on close meaning.
– These are precisely the topics school, association life, cultural life. Once the media is gone, it will not be covered. And when young people get older and have a need to orientate themselves locally, there is no place to find that coverage, she says.
– This is about a country in balance. In a democratic balance and a news balance. So you know what is happening in your own area locally and regionally, but then you also get a national picture of what is happening throughout the country – also in Thisted and in Tønder, says Steffen Damsgaard.
In an interview with the Constructive Institute, which is an independent journalistic center for journalism, KL chairman Jacob Bundsgaard (S) has advocated that total media support should increase.
In 2020, the media support amounts to approximately DKK 360 million, which will be distributed among approximately 70 media.
Bundsgaard is mayor of Aarhus, and he does not want to put a figure on how much support for local and regional media should increase. But it should be raised and not taken from the nationwide media, he believes.
This is a topic that the Rural Joint Council has long sought to put on the agenda.
– I think it is absolutely necessary that the media support for them is raised, says Steffen Damsgaard.
The local and regional media have been under financial pressure for decades, and the corona crisis has only worsened the situation, says municipal researcher Roger Buch from the Danish School of Media and Journalism.
– If we look ahead, we are in a struggle for survival for a number of newspapers, he says.
For the past year, the newspapers Morsø Folkeblad, Helsingør Dagblad and Skive Folkeblad have been threatened with closure.
According to the Constructive Institute, they have only survived because they have either been acquired or merged with Nordjyske, Jysk Fynske Medier and Midtjyllands Mediehus, respectively.
When newspapers die, it can mean that citizens get to know less about the close community around them.
– It is the municipalities that provide the service to us in the elderly area, schools, day care institutions, roads, culture. One can almost be tempted to say that it all comes from the municipality.
– It makes the municipalities very different, and it means that it should be the place that has the most media coverage and attention. But that’s not the case, he says.
Many young people find out about society via social media, and they skip the local newspaper. Nevertheless, Louise Brincker, CEO of the industry organization Danske Medier, believes that local and regional newspapers and media houses should be strengthened.
– I hardly think it is new that young people orient themselves more outwards and away from the place where they live. Conversely, one can see that when they start families and new homes, it takes on close meaning.
– These are precisely the topics school, association life, cultural life. Once the media is gone, it will not be covered. And when young people get older and have a need to orientate themselves locally, there is no place to find that coverage, she says.
Source: The Nordic Page