We need better democracy. Standards in public life have declined, populists have won influence and power and inequality has risen. Democratic deficits have grown while trust in our institutions and civic engagement has reached an historic low.
Our political system is proving unfit for purpose just as a new class of intractable problems that demand urgent resolution are being addressed by people whose decisions are often their cause.
Exeter faces a cluster of such challenges. If reality is to match the rhetoric around their resolution profound change must take place. But responses are determined by multiple authorities with overlapping jurisdictions and often conflicting political perspectives and strategic interests.
Other actors and organisations also disproportionately influence decisions which affect us all.
The local democracy we need depends on people being sufficiently well-informed about what is going on to actively engage with all this in the interests of their family, friends and communities.
It doesn’t work without ready access to relevant, accurate, timely reporting on who is deciding what on whose behalf and what the costs and consequences of those decisions will be.
“News organisations that deploy resources to really gather information are essential to a functioning democracy. It just doesn’t work if people don’t know.”
UK legacy local news publishers have failed to create new business models as Silicon Valley has siphoned off their advertising revenue and traffic. They pursued consolidation and cuts instead of reinvestment and reinvention: two thirds of local journalism jobs have gone in the past fifteen years.
Along the way they abandoned responsibility for local public interest news.
Profit-driven corporate ownership structures now prioritise the pursuit of page views above all else, discounting editorial responsibility in favour of clickbait headlines and ephemeral content that rarely reflects the public interest or even constitutes journalism at all.
Churnalism and cheerleading amplifies content marketing and public relations spin, filling news channels and enticing local authorities and other key institutions to produce promotional press releases instead of public information.
The resulting feedback loops mean most media no longer keep people informed about important issues that affect them and the communities in which they live and work.
Only publishers with the operational capacity and editorial independence to make informed judgements in the public interest can deliver the journalism that local democracy needs.
“The first job of journalism - this is essential - is to put pressure on power. Investigative pressure, reporting pressure, intellectual pressure on the ideas being put out by power. If a newspaper or a site that’s serious isn’t doing that, they’re not doing anything.”
Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror) dominates Devon news coverage. It has been the UK’s largest regional news publisher since October 2015. Since then it has consolidated hundreds of local titles into generic regional publishing platforms across the country.
Devon Live combines seven local titles, including Exeter Express & Echo and Western Morning News. Only 10% of its readers reside in the south west region, of which Exeter’s population forms just 6%.
Audit Bureau of Circulations figures show Exeter Express & Echo’s circulation has fallen by 78% in the past seven years, from 11,700 copies in 2017 to 2,560 in 2024 - including its East Devon edition. Its weekly cover price has reached £3.20 so it now costs nearly £14 per month to read in print.
The pre-pandemic closure of the company’s Exeter office means it has since covered the city from Plymouth, following content policies determined by the priorities of a remote conglomerate. The decision to axe the paper, when it comes, won’t be taken here either.
Exeter Observer is different. Our rigorous independent journalism keep our readers informed about what’s really going on in our city and our business model means we can publish stories that legacy local news is no longer able to produce.