Time Out's Big Smoke blog makes a valid point about London blogging:
However, if we are looking at north vs south, one thing stands out: when it comes to blogging, the south wins hands down,and the south-east in particular.
As someone who used to be a south-east London blogger (before I got distracted by this whole journalism thing), I couldn't agree more. However, the 853 blog identifies a key reason why this might be:
The main reason is because this corner of the capital has, frankly been ignored by the rest of the media for decades. The Tube network barely touches it, so it may as well not exist to the kind of closed-minded north/west London media type who gets a nosebleed more than a mile off the Underground system. I get as pissed off as anyone with tedious misrepresentation of south-east London in the media, and most of it's down to sheer laziness and ignorance. The South London Press (no coverage east of Deptford) aside, local media's a bit of a joke so it's quite easy to tell a story that, simply, isn't being told.
And for us still in the media, that's something to remember. Because the new breed of publisher - the ones doing it for pure passion, at virtually no cost - will and up wounding us where we're weakest. Because we've neglected parts of our audience, pandered to our own prejudices and missed opportunities.
Ha...that made me laugh. Parts of London being ignored by the the media?
The media actually forgets that lots of it's readership (wait for it) ...doesn't actually live in London AT ALL. I know, I know, but it's true.
If the Guardian (always the best example of London loveyism) actually thought for a second that they were read in my home city of Newcastle..would they write this:
http://is.gd/rgYn
I agree that where the media is weakest the bloggers have the best chance of making headway against them. To put it another way...already, EVERYWHERE outside of London is ripe for a much better service.
By way of factual representation - try these searches on the Guardian.
Salford (a city - chosen because they don't have a football and results won't be skewed by sport)...Guardian search mentions: 3603
Camden - small part of London...Guardian search mentions: 3438.
A Northern city roughly equals a very small part of London.
The North V South London argument is a small slice of a much wider problem. Hacks live in hackland, North London and they write about North London and they base their views on their friends in North London.
Another post here:
http://is.gd/owbt
So yes, new forms of media can benefit from these areas...however - so could traditional media if they could be bothered. In this case it's not the delivery mechanism of the media that is the problem - it's the quality and reach of it.
Which brings me back to my personal belief - while the internet is inflicting much damage on the media - it's also, to some extent, a red herring. Because, firstly, I believe the media is failing because it isn't actually, largely, either very good or very representative of its customers.
As I have said before...internet isn't killing papers...papers are killing papers.
Of course, calling Salford "part of Manchester" is as tedious and irritating as calling Greenwich "east London". But please don't fall into the trap of blaming London and Londoners for the faults of the tiny media clique - I for one would far rather read a column from Newcastle instead of Stoke Newington in G2, but instead we're bombarded by the same old gang and their mates. "Do you ever find, when you're on the Tube...?"
The mainstream media has drifted so far out of touch with most of its readership/viewership that it really does deserve the kicking it's getting now. And I speak as someone who's both blogged for some years and worked in a Big Media Organisation for longer - whose own locally-focused output leaves a lot to be desired.
The two could always come together - but Big Media Organisations distrust and misunderstands the newbies (the Guardian calling people who comment on news stories "bloggers"; this dimwit intro to a Standard feature: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23680403-details/The+blogger+who+tells+us+the+real+cops%27+story/article.do ) and the newbies won't want to lose control to a mainstream media which has given up proper reporting of local communities.
My own thought is that the BBC could have a decent role in encouraging this - but the recent axing of BBC Local (which I don't think was the threat media groups ever made it out to be), and its demonisation by politicians of both stripes doesn't suggest the omens for that are good.