Journopig has added analysis of The Oxford Times to the investigation into ‘How much local council coverage is there in your local paper?‘
26 of the newspaper’s 184 pages are devoted to news, and of those:
“We counted the equivalent of just three pages of council stories within this 26 page total, using Sarah’s guide to counting up coverage; but we were being generous by including brief mentions of, or quotes by, councils or councillors.“We were slightly surprised by the findings, as we had been fairly confident that a newspaper of The Oxford Times’ size and status would contain a good amount of council coverage. Its circulation area includes not only Oxford City Council but also district councils such as West Oxfordshire, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire and Vale Of White Horse – which serve diverse rural areas.“But perhaps The Oxford Times assumes that other regional newspapers – such as the daily Oxford Mail, or the weeklies in the district, such as the Banbury Guardian or Witney Gazette – will cover the councils, and leave it to be more arty and intellectual.“We’ll be looking at those other regionals in the very near future to see if they really do pick up that council baton. Because if they don’t, then who does make those councils accountable?”
You can read the full blog post here, and join the investigation here.