We all recognise that local journalism has changed and with it so has the Denbighshire Free Press. It isn't quite what it used to be. It still has a useful role in gathering together press releases and Facebook comment in one weekly publication. But is it me or is there now much less news, more press releases and more content from out of the newspaper's area?
- A lavatory-lock out in Conwy (admittedly for a Dinbych family).
- A general article on place names, with no reference (for example) as to whether Rhuthun should be spelt Rhuthun or Ruthin (and no reference to Llanelwy or Dinbych, chwaith). Yn Gymraeg.
- General article (also yn Gymraeg) about Welsh government funding to help people stay healthy at home and reduce demand on busy hospitals.
- A piece on Llandudno sub-postmaster Alan Bates and the Post Office CBE issue.
- News from St David's hospice, Llandudno, on the community news page.
- Also on the community page, something on North Wales Road Runners fundraising.
- A story on Jack Dee in Llandudno.
- Rail station footfall in 2023.
- Trader of the week: a Rhos on Sea business.
There was also eight pages on veganuary and eight pages of puzzles. Together, these represented 25 per cent of the newspaper. And, the public notices were also revealing. There were three traffic notices from Denbighshire, as you might expect, but Conwy also published three: two pertaining to Llandudno and one for Tal y Bont. There was a separate (non-Conwy council) public notice under the licensing act for Llandudno premises.
You might expect out-of-area advertisers to try to attract our spend but these two seemed odd: the one for Ysgol Emrys ap Iwan (Abergele) might I suppose appeal to people living in Llanelwy. But Ysgol Eirias, Bae Colwyn?
The most revealing advertisement, however, was for Fat Club aka Slimming World. In a whole page, all venues listed were out of the Free Press area: Conwy, Rhos-on-Sea, Rhuddlan, Llandudno Junction, Old Colwyn, Llandudno, Abergele, Llanrhos, Colwyn Bay, Llanrwst, Penrhyn Bay, Craig y Don. What about Slimming Club in the St John's ambulance hall Rhuthun; or Plas Pigot and Eirianfa in Dinbych? Not a mention.
Family announcements were slightly odd, as well. Two did not give a location; neither did a third but you could infer this was Prestatyn; and of the remaining eight the nearest to the Free Press area was Rhuddlan and the farthest Deganwy. (One for Prestatyn was in twice.)
There was part two of a look back at the 2023 stories as featured in the Free Press, North Wales Pioneer and Rhyl Journal. In other words, this was a clue that there would be very little of local interest. In fact, of the 13 items mentioned, only two from the Free Press area made the cut: Bryn Williams’s Llandyrnog connection and a significant bequest from a Corwen couple. The remainder were from Conwy or coastal Denbighshire. Back in the day, there was a similar feature in two January Free Presses, offering a monthly *local* recap.
Sport was relegated to two pages only and even this featured an athletics event at Wrexham and the Prestatyn running club.
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