ANOTHER BLOW FOR LOCAL NEWS MEDIA AS TWO LOCAL COMMUNITY WEBSITES ARE SET TO CLOSE AT THE END OF NEXT MONTH

Local news & media website across the country have increasingly found it hard to stay afloat against the onslaught of syndicated news websites and the increasing use of social media as a news platform, many struggle just to exist never mind become profitable.

In 2017 Salford lost its much loved primary home grown local news service SalfordOnline and sadly we are more than aware that the existence of others are under threat of closure.

salford.media has been fortunate enough to have structured it's own news service to safeguard us from the same effects that have led to the demise of others and soon we will be expanding, but nonetheless just like the rest we will still struggle against the dominance and wealth of the big players who seem to be able to dominate an area by throwing money at it until they completely drive others out. As we were never set up to make profit and to require the bare minimum of funding it allows us a bit of a safety net so to speak. Sadly not all have had that.

So it is with great heartbreak we are saddened to hear that both www.irlamandcadishead.net and www.rixtonwithglazebrook.net which have been funded by the Hamilton Davies Trust will be closing down at the end of next month, the reason being cited as dwindling visitor numbers and the inability to justify spending so much money on resources to keep the sites running.

We can fully understand the reasons for their closure even if we find it sad to see another respected source of true local community led media go.

I would like to thank all those involved in creating and maintain what were both fine local assets for their areas, they will be missed. You have our total respects.

As we said though we are painfully aware of the devastating effect syndicated & social media has had on local websites looking to provide a service to a local audience.

On their respective websites they have posted the following:

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For the past 10 years Hamilton Davies Trust (HDT) have supported Irlam & Cadishead and Rixton-with-Glazebrook with two community websites www.irlamandcadishead.net and www.rixtonwithglazebrook.net

Over the years,  the way groups communicate and share news and events has changed dramatically, especially with the arrival of social media and Facebook in particular. Last year we monitored and reviewed the analytics re usage of both websites and found that visits to these websites had reduced significantly. Based on the results and given the cost in terms of hosting and the staff time it takes to manage and update the websites, we have made the decision to close both sites as from 29th February 2020.

We apologise if this causes an inconvenience to some community groups and the small number of users, but feel this is a necessary step to take.

The HDT website www.hamiltondavies.org.uk will remain open and this, along with our Facebook page will continue to support and promote the great work of the community.