Leicester Mercury

[oxford blue]

I  was looking at online Mercury: It's like the BBC gossip column (which says what it is) - top stories give a taste of news worthiness and in different articles we have 4 references to 'predicts or prediction' and 2 to 'speculation'. It may fill 'column inches'  but pointless, particularly when pundits views become a news story. I will be giving this a  miss unless it might appear there is some real news to report.

 

Mods please delete if a similar topic previously locked - I could not find anything.

[OntarioFox]

It's a rotten rag nowadays, sadly indicative of most local papers since being absorbed by Reach PLC (The Daily Mirror's goon squad).

 

Clickbait and pot-stirring is how they generate clicks and ad revenue nowadays, and that same guff is regurgitated the day after for the print edition.

 

I think there's a genuine market for a local news / sports publication, online or otherwise, that actually provides proper content, because I don't know a soul that still reads the Mercury - not because they don't want local news, but because the quality is just that bad nowadays. If I had the spare time I'd start it myself.

Edited 23 October 2021 by OntarioFox

[davieG]

A lot of their best/informative stuff they find on here, they do occasionally print something newsworthy but it's mostly ex-pro thinks one of our players would do well with or should be signed by one of the Greedy 6, now plus Newcastle.

 

 

[Voll Blau]

4 minutes ago, OntarioFox said:

It's a rotten rag nowadays, sadly indicative of most local papers since being absorbed by Reach PLC (The Daily Mirror's goon squad).

 

Clickbait and pot-stirring is how they generate clicks and ad revenue nowadays, and that same guff is regurgitated the day after for the print edition.

 

I think there's a genuine market for a local news / sports publication, online or otherwise, that actually provides proper content, because I don't know a soul that still reads the Mercury - not because they don't want local news, but because the quality is just that bad nowadays. If I had the spare time I'd start it myself.

Bang on. This strategy is way above anyone at the Merc.

 

The problem is though that people will moan but won't pay. And if you don't pay for your news you've no right really to expect it to be quality news.

[Grebfromgrebland]

The sooner people realise that the only reason for many websites to exist is so that they can get clicks for advertising revenue and stick cookies on your phone or computer the less disappointed you'll be.

 

 

[Vardinio'sCat]

Journalism is expensive, far better to hollow out local news reporting, then syndicate stories that can be adapted for every region. Some Mockery stuff is written in Nottingham now.

 

Then you just have to shoehorn the odd rewritten local press release in, bastardise some national stuff with a local reaction, and then you are good to go.

 

Trinty Mirror now, seems to change owners every 5 minutes.

 

 

[Jimmy]

Trinity Mirror don't exist its Reach PLC

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

It's a shame. I actually like Jordan Blackwell's stuff. But most of what the Merc publishes is pure garbage.

[David Hankey]

Having delivered the 'Merc' in my childhood and been a reader and supporter for years I wouldn't wrap fish and chips in it now.

 

Their decline has been obvious for decades now and not even printed in Leicester, no proof readers and slovenly in it's current format.

 

Thankfully, I no longer buy it.

[Foxes1]

Bring back Bill Anderson. 

[ceredigion]

4 minutes ago, Foxes1 said:

Bring back Bill Anderson. 

Bill Anderson was like a Pravda journalist in Stalin's Russia.

[jgtuk]

I once made the unfortunate mistake of reading the comments section 🙁

[Tielemans63]

It's a shame because The Mercury was one of the best regional papers in the country at one point.

 

The website is a total mess.

[Sampson]

It's nothing to do with the Mercury. It's clickbait journalism, even the most respected of news sources have gone that way too. BBC or CNN are as much clickbait articles as the rest these days sadly.

[NasPb]

The amount of bloody ads, without or with ad block is ridiculous. It's like one of those does your phone have a virus sites 

[iancognito]

The local sports press doesn't actually exist now. This is why Tanner and most of the other local reporters for various papers dotted round the country moved over to the Athletic because they were gradually losing their platforms and column inches. Looking at where the Merc used to be based at St Georges and the tiny box that now consists of it's offices on New Walk tells the whole story. It's a shame because some really talented writers like Richard Broadbent and James Sharpe have made their names there.

[SecretPro]

Shite paper, shite state of affairs. Once upon a time I wanted a career in journalism but as with much since then, journalism in its truest sense is dead. Modernisation doesn't always equal quality. 

Edited 23 October 2021 by SecretPro

[Heathrow fox]

3 hours ago, Tielemans63 said:

It's a shame because The Mercury was one of the best regional papers in the country at one point.

 

The website is a total mess.

I went on a tour of the building when at school year’s ago.They said it was the 6th biggest reaching local rag at the time.Can’t be long before it becomes once or twice weekly can it?Must admit I still love a flick through it when in Leicester.

[Heathrow fox]

Just to add that my Dad rarely got the hump about anything,but he had to have first dabs on the Mercury.He stopped buying it 3/4 years ago.

[ozleicester]

10 hours ago, Voll Blau said:

Bang on. This strategy is way above anyone at the Merc.

 

The problem is though that people will moan but won't pay. And if you don't pay for your news you've no right really to expect it to be quality news.

Not entirely true, I spent 10+ years in the free/local news area with News Ltd. and to be honest when compared with the 10 years i spent at the paid and elite newspapers, the reporting you got was actually much better, fairer, more researched and more balanced.

TBF most local news is less interesting and less significant then compared to nationals etc, but the honesty, accuracy and intent of the reporting was greater.

[HybridFox]

Funnily enough, I was talking to an old school mate of mine who's since emigrated to Canada. He was saying one of the things he misses about Leicester is reading the Leicester Mercury every morning.

 

Ditto I said 

[Nod.E]

11 hours ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

The sooner people realise that the only reason for many websites to exist is so that they can get clicks for advertising revenue and stick cookies on your phone or computer the less disappointed you'll be.

 

 

And the sooner you realise it's free and it needs paying for somehow, the sooner you'll stop complaining and looking entitled.

 

Like the website you're posting on, for instance.

 

Now that's not to say I rate the Mercury. It's crap. But, a bit like music, journalism has followed the money that comes with reaching the wider (gratis) market, and that doesn't end well. 

 

Just replace albums with newspapers. Streaming with free online articles. 

 

More money in the monetisation of freeloaders than the rewarding of connoisseurs. Pay for quality or don't complain about what is widely available, basically.

 

EDITING: to say this might be a little harsh. There's a chance you may already be making the same point I'm making and I misread your point?

Edited 24 October 2021 by Nod.E

[UpTheLeagueFox]

7 hours ago, MarriedaLeicesterGirl said:

It's a shame. I actually like Jordan Blackwell's stuff. But most of what the Merc publishes is pure garbage.

Agreed. Jordan is an excellent writer.

[David Hankey]

Sadly, the once reputable 'Leicester Mercury' is now seen widely as the 'Leicester Mockery'!!

[HUNTA84]

Bring back Sporting Blue