Regionals scoop nationals over PM’s resignation

In an age when print media is often seen playing catch-up with their more agile, digital competitors, the UK’s regional press proved that “old school” media can still react to a major news event and deliver relevant and extremely timely news following David Cameron’s resignation on Friday morning.

According to a report on Hold The Front Page, six regional dailies pushed the boundaries of their deadlines to feature the news that Cameron would be stepping down from the role of PM in October.

While many national titles, pushed their deadlines back to 5am, enabling them to report on referendum, the regionals were able to demonstrate greater flexibility and highlight the impact of the vote.

While a number of regional titles featured the news in later (and special) editions, The Oldham Chronicle perhaps best demonstrated the agility and speed at which local newspapers can move by featuring the story of Cameron’s resignation on its front pages despite their 8.15am deadline giving them just 15 minutes to run the article before going to print.

David Whaley, The Oldham Chronicle’s editor, told journalists: “We knew that the national newspapers would miss the results when the EU referendum timings were announced and we expected to have a front page with the result.

“We were within minutes of sending Page One when the Prime Minster announced his decision to stand down. We were a few minutes late on the press but it was worth it.”

Did They Just Get Lucky?

The UK’s regional press demonstrated on Friday that modern newsrooms can push the boundaries of the things that restrict them in this digital age (print schedules, distribution networks, limited opportunities to update coverage throughout the day, etc.) but because news never breaks at a convenient time, newspapers will always be at a disadvantage when it comes to breaking the news.

Nobody doubts the skill and determination of the regional press to deliver high quality, informative news but had this news broken just 10 or 20 minutes later, the regional press wouldn’t have a scoop to shout about.

Yes – the regional press proved themselves to be incredibly agile at a time of national importance but they were also incredibly lucky. The real question is how much further can they stretch their luck before they either secure their future with a solid commercial strategy or fall foul of their limitations?