By Jason McKeown
The close season is a bland, perpetual period of nothing. Without competitive Bradford City matches to attend, the days and weeks stretch endlessly as we forlornly wait for news – any news – to scratch the itch. It’s during periods like this where an early morning visit to the Telegraph & Argus (T&A) website for Bradford City news is essential.
Only these days, it’s rare to click on the ‘Bantams’ menu option at the top of the T&A homepage and be greeted by something truly unexpected.
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If you’re looking for a book to read, I would recommend ‘Panic as man burns crumpet: the vanishing world of the local journalist’. Author Roger Lytollis tells the story of his time working as a feature writer for the Carlisle News & Star, and what life is really like at a local paper.
It’s a funny book, but it’s also sad. And that’s because Lytollis gives a first-hand account of the decline of local newspapers. Where in this modern digital world, the newspaper industry has suffered greatly from giving away its product for free, online, where advertising revenues don’t come anywhere near to compensating for the rapid decline in print sales.
In March this year, The Guardian reported the newspaper advertising market was worth £2.5bn in the 2000s, but has now slumped to £241 million. The online advertising spend on regional newspapers was worth only worth £229 million last year – nowhere near making up for such a slump in revenue. “The problem to date is that the shift online remains largely a case of giving up print pounds for digital pennies,” summarises the article.
In his book, Lytollis describes how the News & Star’s circulation (ie number of people who buy and read the paper) fell from 26,000 a day in 2005, to 9,000 in 2016 – and to under 6,000 by the end of 2019. This story is repeated all over the country. Lytollis reports more than 300 local papers have closed in the last decade.
Job losses have been the inevitable consequence of the local print media’s woes. The number of journalists on local papers has halved to about 6,500 since 2005. Lytollis reveals the pace of job cuts increased at the News & Star after they were bought by Newsquest. In the first nine months of owning Cumbria titles, Newsquest made more than a 100 people redundant. Lytollis summarises of Newsquest, “It was known for making massive profits – often tens of millions of pounds a year – while ruthlessly cutting costs.”
Somewhat inevitably, Lytollis too is made redundant in 2019. On his final day at the office he reflects on the scale of change, “In 2008: sixty four editorial staff. Now fifteen would be left, most of them trainees.”
The story of the News & Star is of significance in Bradford, because the T&A is also owned by Newsquest. Lytollis discusses throughout how Newsquest’s approach of making journalists and other employees redundant was carried out at other titles across the country. For example, in 2017, Newsquest made 10 redundancies at the T&A on the same day its parent company, Gannet, announced its shareholders would receive a £14 million dividend.
That certainly tallies with what we’ve seen over the years at the T&A. When I first started reading the paper in 1997 (inevitably for the Bradford City coverage) there were two journalists covering the Bantams – Richard Sutcliffe and David Markham. There was a dedicated T&A Leeds United reporter, and excellent non-league coverage led by Ian Whiting. The Bradford Bulls also had a journalist solely covering them.
In the modern day, it’s a long time since the T&A had a Leeds United reporter. Whiting is no longer employed by the T&A. And crucially they’ve not had a dedicated Bradford Bulls reporter for many years. Simon Parker – the sole Bradford City reporter since 2000 – has to cover the Bulls as well as City. He has some support covering Bradford sport from Nathan Atkinson, who joined the paper as a trainee and seems to be developing nicely.
Parker does a very good job of covering City, and this article is not going to criticise him for what he does. The opposite in fact. Because as much as the T&A clearly doesn’t have the teeth it used to in this modern online world, this is a really challenging job given the apparent dwindling resources at the paper.
In Lytollis’ book, he includes comments from Donald Martin, who was editor-in-chief at Newsquest’s Glasgow titles. In the space of 10 years, Newquest Glasgow had cut overall staff from 800 to 100, and that had an inevitable impact on quality. Martin declares, “Those cuts we’ve made have taken us right down to the bone. It’s incredibly tough to produce quality newspapers if you don’t have the resources.”
It’s a view echoed by America media analyst Ken Doctor, who the book quotes as telling the New York Times, “The truth is, to make a huge profit in the newspaper business, you have to cut, cut, cut, and be willing to see the product get worse year by year.”
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At the same time as the T&A is suffering from dwindling revenue and sharp cuts, they’re battling with the fact that organisations like Bradford City have become wise to the Bill Gates mantra “Content is King”.
In 1996, Gates wrote an essay under this title, predicting, “Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet…One of the exciting things about the Internet is that anyone with a PC and a modem can publish whatever content they can create…The broad opportunities for most companies involve supplying information or entertainment. No company is too small to participate.”
No surprise – Gates was right. And Bradford City, like many other football clubs, are clearly understanding that the platforms they create for themselves means they can set the club’s news agenda. And in doing so, they’re making news and content more commercially profitable.
We see it in lots of different ways. Whenever there is a breaking news story like a Bradford City signing, the club usually announces it first via its website and social media channels. Other media outlets – including the T&A – have to line up behind the club and wait their turn. They can’t seem to reveal the news until the club does it first. Back in the day, Parker would be invited to Valley Parade to meet a new signing and collect his own quotes to use, before breaking the story. Every club does the same as City now.
That leads us onto the local media’s access to the manager and players. It feels a lot more restricted these days – you don’t see as many interviews for sure. When each new signing came through the door this summer, City’s website and/or membership hub carried in-depth interviews before the local media got to have a go several days later. In the past few weeks, the club has promoted exclusive interviews with Alex Pattison and Harry Lewis that can only be viewed by paying for the Bantams membership.
They’re setting up premium content that we supporters have to pay for – exactly the type of content we used to have to buy a paper to read.
Nothing is sacred really. Even the pre-match press conferences are shown in full to fans. You don’t wait to hear Mark Hughes’ thoughts on the weekend’s big match in the T&A, you watch them on YouTube. Parker once wrote about how, when Stuart McCall was manager, they would speak on the phone every day as the City legend drove to training. It’s doubtful Parker gets to do the same with Hughes.
There is no blame on the club for any of this. Bradford City in 2023 are increasingly commercially savvy and growing revenue streams, despite the club having had a challenging few years on the pitch. And as fans, we don’t really care who gets to announce breaking news first – we just want the breaking news. But this content is king marketing outlook has created an imbalance of power between the club and its local media.
Clearly, the T&A needs Bradford City. Coverage of the club’s exploits is going to be one of the largest drivers of traffic to the T&A website. But increasingly, the club doesn’t need the T&A. And that means it can break positive news stories itself. Monetise the insights and views of their players and manager. And make sure they manage the overall message.
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Ultimately, we are to blame for this. Sort of. When was the last time you bought a physical copy of the T&A? I honestly can’t remember the last time I did. I moved to a new village two years ago and I’m not sure if the local shop even stocks it – which shows how long ago it is since I bought it.
We can access the content from the T&A for free. It has added a subscription model and paywall blockers, but only after the horse had bolted. It’s a wider consumer trend that goes way beyond Bradford City.
You can’t really go back to a point where lots of us will willingly pay to read the T&A again. Its best hope has to be to produce premium content that will spike interest and justify the (very reasonable) subscription rates. It needs unmissable interviews and genuine exclusives. But the T&A is competing with a football club that’s reaping the benefits of commercialising its content.
A decade ago, the T&A was winning industry awards for its coverage of Bradford City. That came after the way Parker reported on the Bantams’ unforgettable 2012/13 season. Phil Parkinson announced the T&A had won the Specialist Publication of the Year, stating the paper’s coverage of the cup run had been “superb”.
Parkinson was absolutely correct. And – both in the years before and after – I would argue that 99% of us City supporters have had their overall experience of following the club enhanced by the T&A. They’ve produced some fantastic stuff over the years. Parker might be a Pompey outsider, but after more than 20 years covering the club, he really is one of us. Unfortunately, it’s clearly a very challenging landscape for local papers.
As fans, we do still need a strong T&A for so many reasons – what happens if another Edin Rahic episode arises? But when we’re no longer as willing to pay for local, independent media, we can only share in the blame if we no longer have it.
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Frankly the only reason to buy the T&A for a long time (*) has been the coverage of BCAFC and Simon Parker does a very good job reporting the affairs at VP as too his predecessors. With what has happened in Bradford in the last few decades it is hardly as if a local newspaper has been starved of stories to investigate and report. Whilst you can blame the internet for the decline of local journalism, Newsquest / T&A management has excelled at dumbing down the coverage of Bradford when the district would have benefited from critical and challenging journalism. But heh, at least we now get updated hygiene reports for local takeaways.
(* Arguably the only quality journalism in the T&A this century was that of Jim Greenhalf about the riots but sadly he was made redundant.)
Agreed, I found Mike Priestley was also prepared to challenge local issues head-on, albeit walking on egg-shells .
Only reason I read the T&A these days ( and for a long while) is Simon’s coverage of City.
It’s a lot harder for Simon Parker in some ways than it was for his predecessors David Markham and Don Aldred. Now he has to somehow create a story about City even in the summer while in the 60s to 80s the only news about City in the T&A in the summer were the fixtures coming out and the league cup draw. Occasionally we’d make a signing in the closed season but unlike today it would be just 1 or 2 or often no summer signings at all. Then of course the T&A had several editions and would concentrate on Yorkshire cricket updates in summertime with a dedicated Yorkshire cricket reporter in David Warner.
A most interesting piece. The London Evening Standard was once bought, it seemed, by every homeward-bound Londoner. Nowadays, you barely see anybody reading it on the tube even though it is now free of charge. Print journalism is in steep decline at all levels. The glossy end of the market, the chic lifestyle, fashion and celebrity-scandal magazines, issued by Newsquest, Bauer, D.C. Thompson et al have suffered very badly as readership has declined and advertisers departed. Personally I think the industry sowed the seeds of its own decline in their thoughtless, desperate quest to put their content on line. It made little sense to give it away. The rationale that people once used to reading their paper in this manner when it was free would easily be persuaded to pay a little when a paywall was phased in was flawed. The Independent in proving that a national can survive without being issued in print has, in my opinion, established a model that in time others will follow. As a side note, the once mighty Daily Mail is now in the midst of a large cost-cutting exercise to accommodate the million pound salary they are paying Boris Johnson. This has led to a collapse of morale among the other writers and was an act of madness by the editor Paul Dacre, whom Johnson once nominated for a peerage and made director of the BBC. Since everything that comes in contact with Johnson becomes tarnished by his presence, this paper will no doubt suffer. I never read the T and A since it banned me from commenting, immediately after I had criticised the woefully sloppy practice of one of its juniors.
You forget to mention Bradford City fans are also spoiled by the great fan content offering opinion, insight and analysis!
Speaking of which would be great to hear some views on this potential change in formation and the different ways we could potentially setup.
Unfortunately the T&A is a thing of the past, it has been driven into the ground by Newsquest.
The T&A website is beyond a joke. Endless clickbait, court reporting, lazy feeds from Twitter and comments sections filled with trolls battling it out with racist abuse and endless personal grievances. Not the best advert for the City of Bradford!
I can see why the BCAFC articles are behind a paywall, but they are usually only reporting what has already been released by the club, interviews with players offer nothing we don’t already now or have heard before. Simon Parker should have a template report for every new player. “Great club, shouldn’t be in this league, great set of lads…can’t wait to play in front of the fantastic fans etc. etc.” This for me isn’t content worth paying extra for. Match day reports are available within an hour of the game finishing on-line from the club & sites like WOAP. Gone are the days waiting until Monday afternoon for the T&A to be available at the local paper shop.
There is still a space & need for ‘good local journalism’ you only have to look at the Yorkshire Post which still champions quality, well written journalism both on a national & local aspect. It is worth paying for their content, where as what the T&A offers is available elsewhere for free and in an easier to use format.
As you rightly say in the world of social media, the club’s own sites, media and the excellent work of independent fan sites like WOAP, City Vent and previously Bantams Banter, fans now have a wealth of options to keep up to date with the clubs comings & goings. The City Gent still continues to be City fans ‘paper/magazine’ its origins were partly on the back of the T&As poor reporting of the club in the 80’s.
As for holding a future “Edin Rahic arises” it was the fans that rose to get rid of him, not the T&A. I remember very little support from the paper on that issue, but neither did the Supporters Trust or certain Supporters Groups but that’s a different story.
Jason, I beg to differ regarding the last paragraph in your article. The media did very little to warn fans about Rahic. In fact, quite the opposite was the case. Sad to say, the media has become an extension of Bradford City’s public relations department. It seems the media are beholding to VP. They can do nothing wrong. Yet the opposite is often true but not reported.
Compare the T&A coverage with local papers covering Mansfield, Tranmere, Stevenage, Harrogate, Wimbledon, Oldham, Carlisle, Stockport, Gillingham … Oh well, you get the picture, City fans are still well served by the T&A with an article every day.
It’s a fact that on most days nothing of note happens. The players train, the bloke with the hamstring injury is still getting treatment and the transfer window is closed. Hence the player interviews.
Today’s local reporter is the modern equivalent of the coal miner, though it won’t be Maggie Thatcher that kills him/her off.
Brighton and Bournemouth will share one reporter next season. If people won’t pay for content then the end is inevitable. Something will take its place which may or not be better but certainly will be unregulated.
Finally the comment that the Yorkshire Post is better for coverage of the Bantams was a joke, wasn’t it??
I didn’t say the Yorkshire Post covers City better than the T&A. It covers all Yorkshire clubs, but the standard of journalism they offer as a whole is lightyears away from the T&A and worth paying for.
As an example, look at the coverage of the scandal of the ongoing development of Tees Free Port & you will see that they are still holding those in power to account rather than just print off a lazy PR release like the local Northern Echo (another Newsquest title) do. As John Dewshurst said at the start of the comments. When has the T&A held anyone to account involved in the issues Bradford has & continues to have?
Ian, who said the Yorkshire Post did a better job of covering the Bantams???
Sorry thought post was about Bradford City not the Tees port.
Sorry, thought comments were about BCFC and didn’t realise it was about Tees Port.
An excellent article and extremely insightful. The world of journalism is indeed changing rapidly, I dread the fact that the owner of the content drives the agenda. Because of the need to monetise at every opportunity I fear impartiality will be lost. As managers in the commercial world we learned quickly how powerful it is to control the communications. My view is Bradford City will fall into this way of communicating along with other clubs and drive the need for a government appointed Football Regulator to be set up.
Perhaps I am missing something, are you suggesting that the tax I pay should be used to pay someone to tell football clubs they cannot tweet that their new signing is really good?
Thanks Jason. Your excellent article transported me back some 40 years to a time when as a young lad I delivered the T&A round the lower Baildon area. I was, and am still, an avid City fan and loved the “Up with the City” campaign that the T&A ran towards the end of 81/82 season. Happy days.
A good assessment of the decline of print and loss of revenue for some and not others.
A shame really.
I still miss the Saturday evening pink sports special, was of an era of course but used to queue at the local newsagents for the late delivery and spend a happy hour every Saturday reading that. Times they are a changing.
I’m pleased that you’ve used this platform to spotlight this topic, and especially Simon P and the T&A. Dwindling or otherwise, local journalism can and should be a thread in a healthy society. I note the comments above about the important investigative role of the YP on the Tees Free Port story. The T&A played an important role c8 years ago when I waged a campaign to re-instate a commuter time bus service from my estate to the nearest rail link. That campaign succeeded and a supportive T&A article was key.
There is a broader, more troubling cut back going on right now with regional BBC resourcing, which I think is bad news for communities and society at large.
What do we get from the T&A’s reporting we don’t get elsewhere? I scan for the hints and comments on injuries or potential signings- the latter in my view more accurate than the swirl of speculation on social media. I also have a treasured memory of taking 2 of my sons to a Q&A with Billy Knott at the Record Cafe done by Simon Parker.
You may recollect Jason a few years back I forwarded you some improbable email exchanges I had with the senior management at Bauer Media and Pulse FM when the former bought the latter, and at the same time Pulse dropped BCFC match commentary. The gist of that, was that it was a commercial decision because Pulse saw a lack of customer support for the commentary. I’ve chosen to boycott Pulse ever since, in response.
The other, more positive outcome from that Pulse decision for me, was to prompt me to pay the monthly T&A subscription, which I still do to this day. Whether it’s local newspapers, regional BBC, libraries…the key message is use it or lose it.
Bauer have a very arrogant attitude that they decide what a customer should read or listen to. They believe they are correct in driving their product rather than reacting to the listener/reader.
They also.like to ‘change’ things on a regular basis.
I have experience of speaking to the people producing one of their specialist magazines. They were bring driven by a new director who wanted to take the magazine in a different direction despite the readers telling them that if they did so then they would withdraw their subscriptions. They arrogantly went ahead and sales have slumped.
An interesting read, I think there’s probably a need for T&A to really consider what can give them a usp.
Maybe it’s not simple articles from press conferences that you can watch online but more insightful analysis of matches, tactics etc.
If you listen to any interview Simon Parkers questions are really poor, they can almost always be answered with ‘yes’ – he often even says the answer as part of the question. This approach and lack of insight gained doesnt help write pieces people want to read.