Lancashire's Local News (Lancashire Evening Telegraph)

Name: blackjane

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Product:	Lancashire Evening Telegraph
Date:	10/02/01 (593 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Still keeping the region up to date with all the news and information

Disadvantages: Can newspapers survive in the digital age?

These days there is more choice than ever for news, with multi-channel television and a wealth of information at our fingertips online. So is there still a place for the newspaper, and in particular the humble local newspaper.

I lived the whole of my childhood in East Lancashire, and after a brief hiatus, I moved back to the area about a year ago.

Despite the many changes that have taken place on the media map, some things don't change, and the local evening 'rag', The Lancashire Evening Telegraph (LET) appears to be as popular as ever.

For anyone wishing to keep up with goings on in the East of the County, the LET is still the first place to look, except perhaps to tune in to Radio Lancashire, which is also an important source for all the latest news and sport for the region.

As a young schoolboy (ah - those were the days, not a care in the world), I used to deliver the LET to a number of homes in the local town. It wasn't a big paper round - only about 20 or so houses, although they were spread out over a large enough area to mean that it took me half an hour or so, even at a brisk walking pace. These people relied on the local paper to tell them of the recent goings on in their corner of Lancashire, and from my observations this still appears to be the case.

Daily newspapers have been fighting tirelessly to maintain their dwindling circulations for the past decade, with mixed success, so why should the local rags be any different?

In many ways they both suffer the same problems - newspapers are seen as 'old hat', and with many more opportunities to discover news and other information, their importance has gradually been eroded. However, the fact that such titles as the LET are local and relevant to the local people gives them a distinct advantage in maintaining the loyalty of a wavering readership.

I am not a regular buyer of the LET, although I will sometimes make a specific e
ffort to buy it to catch up with any big local football news. I can be sure that they will always be the first to pick up on any stories that are breaking with the local football teams. If I take a look at any of the Sunday newspapers, my team may occasionally get a few column inches, but even this is a rarity for a first division side.

Breaking news relating to my place of work is also featured in the LET, and it has been known for them to pick up on issues, and print them, before it has become common knowledge in the office. However this probably speaks volumes about the lack of internal communication rather than anything else.

Aside from news and sport, the LET is able to bring details of forthcoming events and local job vacancies. It is true to say that many websites are now in the market to disseminate similar information, but few do it as well with a local focus.

In fact, I lie. There is one website that is able to bring all this information, and with the same level of local focus. It just so happens that it is the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's own web site. The parent company, Newsquest, which is a subsidiary of a US based company called Gannett Inc., is the largest regional publisher in England, and hosts equivalent websites under the 'thisis' brand eg: www.thisislancashire.co.uk

I am now able to obtain much of the information that is carried in the LET, on this website, including lots of archived news and sports information. I can also see what is going on in a number of other regions as well.

This does not detract from the paper, as many people still prefer to read their daily dose of news and sport in an 'inky', however, it does provide a handy alternative to people like myself, who can now catch up with the news online from time to time.

A few other details about the Lancashire Evening Telegraph:

Publication Days: Mon - Sat
Issues per annum: 312
Circulation:
42,535
Price: 27p

{Source: JIGREG & ABC}

Although it covers the whole of East Lancashire (effectively the 'BB' postcode area), it enjoys the greatest penetration in Blackburn, Darwen, Great Harwood and Accrington. Other areas such as Burnley, Nelson and Colne have penetrations that are significantly (up to two thirds) lower. Full details can be found at the following link:

http://www.adweb.co.uk/nsnewspaperDetail2.CFM? paperid=582

So if you need to know what's happening in East Lancashire, you could do a lot worse than to go out and buy a copy of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. Even if you now live away from the area, you can still keep up to date with events on their comprehensive website.

{An original Dooyoo opinion
© Blackjane 2001}

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