Municipal Matters: Local Government Reporting and News Values in England’s Provincial Press, 1900–1950

Abstract

This study examines local government reporting in the English provincial press from 1900 to 1950. It has two main findings—firstly, that the press moved from verbatim council reports in the early part of the century to selective news stories that were designed to maximise news values and commercial revenues. City council meeting reports were re-shaped, re-focused and re-formulated to resemble news stories, often featuring on the front pages. They conformed to journalistic news values such as drama, conflict and personalities and provide evidence of a move to a more news-driven approach to local government reporting. The paper also demonstrates the often-invisible commercial links between some elected representatives and the local press, on whose boards of management they sat. Overall, it provides a challenge to the conventional wisdom that the provincial press interest in municipal issues declined in the twentieth century.