The Provincial, Local and Regional Press

Abstract

This chapter considers the definitions, meanings and values generally associated with the provincial, local and regional press. It covers aspects of the growth of this media through the nineteenth century, featuring key spatial, chronological and thematic trends, as well as an analysis of the key causal factors and forces that brought about expansion and diversification. It pays particular attention to the newspaper as an agent, and the various modes of identity construction and place formation which such newspapers engaged in. This agency included the marking out of geographical catchments, the shaping of political spheres of influence, the fostering of business networks, the reporting on institutions and organisations, and the cultivation of local cultural provision. In addition, this section considers regional news discourse, both the critical as well as the evolving place-promotional ‘boosterist’ language much associated with regional press editorials. The chapter ranges broadly in its coverage of the provincial press, incorporating city and county publications, the district newspapers of major cities, and the ‘national’ press of Scotland, Ireland and Wales, highlighting what was to be found in common, as well as that which was distinctive and particular.