Outrageous

The Denbighshire Free Press sees a 15 per cent price hike today. It's gone up 10p to 75p. The number of journos has reduced by at least one and at the same time the editor has left (although it's believed he will be working elsewhere in the North Wales Newspapers group). In his place is a regional editor covering more than one title.

It will be interesting to see if the Rhyl Journal takes on an "angrier" tone to match its southerly sister—or whether the adversarial approach of the Free Press actually tones down. Currently, the two are very different in approach.

So, a price rise and potentially a cut in quality, too, with a reduced front line staff, as North Wales Newspapers tries to make economies. Welcome to the 21st century world of local news, as advertising revenues slide. Within the current issue is an open letter aimed at asking online advertisers to support regional newspapers' web sites rather than sites such as Google or Facebook, which speaks volumes.

These days, I rarely buy the Free Press. I'm rather sick of the "outrage" stories which try in vain to attract readers. And, we don't officially know how many copies they sell, as they're no longer members of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. The last figures were available in February 2014 when there was a circulation of 5,891.