Local newspapers will not recover from recession, says former Express editor

A former editor of the Daily Express has said that local newspapers will never recover from the current economic slump.

Richard Addis, who edited the newspaper for three years in the 1990s, believes that regional newspapers are the worst hit of the print sectors.

He made the comment as regional newspaper groups sought government help to save further title closures and Kent media company KM Group announced plans to quit printing its own newspapers and concentrate on publishing.

Addis announced plans in 2007 to launch an "ultra-local newspaper" in London. However, he told PrintWeek that plans had changed and he is looking to launch a series of local news websites across the UK.

He said: "Print will never recover from this recession. And regional newspapers are the worst hit of all. Regional publishers are all looking at digital and how to improve their website. Over the next three years, we will see a huge failure of regional print businesses."

KM Group, which publishes the Kent Messenger, has announced up to 159 redundancies as it closes its print facility. Speculation is rife that the company will not be the last to move its titles to a large contract printer.

However, newspaper publishers are fighting back, with the formation of the Local Media Alliance, featuring chief executives of the seven largest newspaper printers in the UK.

According to the Financial Times, the group has held a secret meeting with the communications minister at which they told him how serious the situation has become. The group is hoping for merger restrictions on the media to take into account all mediums, not individual sectors.