Preserving the Local Newspaper Archive

Project team

Rachel Matthews - Project Lead
Gary Collins - Archive Consultant
Olivia Garro - Research Assistant

Funder

The National Archives Resilience Grant

Value

£19,850

Duration

May 2025 to March 2026

Project overview

This research project is designed to contribute to innovative understandings of the value of local media to people and places. Focussing on the legacy local newspaper industry, it is posing challenging questions about how their contemporary presence and historic vestiges as a product and process contribute to vibrant communities.

The daily and weekly local newspaper has been a ubiquitous material presence around the globe since its inception in the 18th century and many of the normative assumptions relating to the form and function of local media arise from its practice. However, in the 21st century that presence is shrinking as digital operations take up less space than analogue print products and the associated armies of commercial and production staff are nolonger needed. This shrinkage – which is particularly acute in the US and the UK - is exacerbated by declining revenues associated with the challenge of online competitors. This means large landmark offices are earmarked for closure by those seeking a sustainable economic future for legacy brands.

One casualty in this process is the archives associated with these titles, which have documented hundreds of years of happeinings in a location. Often these are the only records of such events. But, because these records are undervalued, as offices close these collections are rarely kept intact. In some instances they may be donated to those official archives with the capcity to accept what are sizeable physical collections. Owners may keep selected items which they deem to have commercial value. Otherwise, their salvage falls to community groups who perceive their inherent value, but who may lack the specialist skills associated with archiving and preservation.

Dr Rachel Matthews, is leading a research team to develop a toolkit and network to support people working this area, supported by a Resilience Grant from The National Archives. The project is bringing together a range of participants to co-create the toolkit, including heritage professionals from the archive, library and preservation sectors, with industry representatives and community groups to investigate this area. Initially designed as a pilot project in the Midlands, participants include: Warwickshire Library and Information Service, the Stamford Mercury Archive Trust, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the University of Leicester and the Worcester Civic Society.

In addition to developing hands-on guidance for those working in this area, the group is also considering the value of these collections and how the articulation of that value can help advocate for their future conservation. The findings will contribute to new theoretical perspectives on the relationship between local media practices and communities; these include the local media as community activator and the conception that local media can be considered part of the fabric of places. These expanded understandings have consequences for policy reactions to the contemporary decline of local media.

Project objectives

This project will encourage a strategic approach to acquiring, cataloguing and making accessible local newspaper archives. The project partners will identify and address issues which arise in the preservation process.This will result in a toolkit to increase the resilience of local newspaper collections by guiding preservation. The partners are also at the nexus of a national network, which will provide ongoing support to this process beyond the life of the project.

Impact statement

The impact of this project will be:

Increased recognition for the significance of collections relating to the local newspaper to the history and identity of a place.
A more strategic approach to creating collections by stakeholders including community groups, professional archivists and the local newspaper industry.
Wider availability of collections to a variety of audiences, including community and academic audiences.

Outputs

Tool kit to support the hands-on process of acquiring and preserving collections.
Structured network to amplify the significance of activity in this area.