A few weekends ago I found myself in a bit of a déjà-vu; rewind to the summer of 2004, sitting in my local grimy pub drinking cheap white wine and discussing the future and what academic/career paths we were all about to set off on.  Fast forward to 2011 and there I was once again, still drinking the same cheap white wine, but this time talking excitedly about our past few years in the world of work, or in one case seriously lamenting her chosen career….

Poor Lucy; graduating in 2007 she decided to step into the seemingly glamorous world of journalism, spurred on by the dream of one day breaking the next big political scandal to the world in true Bob Woodward, investigative journalistic style.  To her dismay, she’s found herself cutting her teeth on the local newspaper; with a measly circulation of only 26,000 (her words not mine) she is keen to add.  In her opinion she won’t have, truly “made it”, until she’s in the Big Smoke, working on a well-known broadsheet and dealing with “real” news.

To give her her due, she does understand that we all have to start somewhere; whether that’s making endless cups of tea and filing for days on end or indeed interviewing the local lollipop lady about her job, it’s a foot in the door.  But for her, regional journalism just doesn’t cut it anymore and she would even go as far as to say that no-one cares about it anymore.  Probably not the best view to have, but hers all the same.

This got me thinking: are regional newspapers really on the down and out?  With the nationals securing huge audiences, millions even, on a day to day basis up and down the country, how can they expect to compete, even survive?  They’re small fry compared to a competitor who, not only has the workforce to cover lots of different issues, from world disasters, political debate to trashy celeb scandal, but also the money (think Rupert Murdoch) to keep their publication up to date with current technological advancements, even drive them, such as The Daily, the first I-pad only newspaper.  Unfortunately I don’t think my local Argus has the same punching weight behind it…

But, that is the point.  Local newspapers are there for the local community; to pick up and relay important issues that are relevant to the area and not get involved in the national media scrum.  For as little as 30p you can pick up your local rag and learn about what is actually going in your area.

OK, so you’re not going to be able to read about the latest celeb divorcee, the latest Big Society issue, or even enjoy Elton John guest-editing the paper, as he did with his recent stint for The Independent in November. Granted, these are all things which are nice to dip into throughout the day…but we also need to make sure we don’t get too swept up in the bigger issues and occasionally try and stay true to our roots.

Practicing what I preached at the pub, I picked up a copy of my local paper, the South Wales Argus and found out that Tesco is looking to locate in one of the small villages, something I wasn’t aware of, but instantly against.  I also read about the latest police developments in a recent murder enquiry- something which shook the whole the community, sea defenses being scrutinized and a local lady who recently turned 100. Of course.

As for Lucy, she’s all set to leave for bigger and better things, but in the meantime I actually think she’s doing a sterling job, and I’m sure the people of Newport would agree.