Future of Journalism conference, Wales

The 2023 Future of Journalism conference has just started in Cardiff, Wales, and already I have a pad full of notes from various presentations.

We've heard a lot so far about newsrooms as troubled workplaces, full of overworked and underpaid journalists. This may not seem like new news to some of us who have worked in the industry for many years, but what has changed is the constant and over-riding demands of digital connectivity. How this as added to the workload and 24/7 nature of news work has been interesting to hear about, and worrying too.

There is a need to explore how this is impacting the ability of local newsrooms to recruit new journalists, and retain them. And how the lack of staff and professional news production is potentially affecting the quality, value and sustainability of local news in rural and regional areas.