Local newspapers' crisis: cutbacks are bad for society - and democracy

He took the trouble to update his chapter - so what follows includes new work - but I have inserted a little more of his original research study because it was so interesting…

Yesterday, millions of people cast their vote in the local elections. Some will have seen it as an opportunity to pass their verdict on the coalition government, others to choose the councillor who will best serve their community.

However there is trouble brewing. Behind the wall-to-wall coverage of phone hacking – with the scandals, resignations and apologies it has prompted – there is a much bigger problem for the British press. Large swathes of it are simply disappearing.