Last Monday saw the much trumpeted debate on the state of the Midlands media take place in Birmingham.

Sadly, it turned out to be little more than a lengthy attack on Trinity Mirror’s stewardship of the two main newspaper titles in the city, the Mail and the Post.

This was despite Press Club chairman John Lamb pleading at the outset for an honest and open debate about all aspects of the state the region’s media finds itself in, and what needs to be done to improve matters.

Let me say at this point that it is clear that the Midlands media is going through a tough time – there have been cutbacks and job losses at the region’s newspapers, business magazines, television and radio stations.

In my view, this is a result of three things: the recession, global or otherwise, which has helped kill advertising; the empire building of the BBC; and the advance of the online sector, including of course the Internet, but also newer developments such as Twitter and the blog community.

To be fair to Trinity Mirror, they have acknowledged the advertising downturn and reacted to the online threat by embracing it as much as they can. They have also warned about the BBC and the fact that other media cannot compete against it, particularly in the current climate, because of its privileged position and secure funding.

Unfortunately, there was little sympathy for Trinity Mirror, either from the panel or the floor – among the more interesting suggestions I heard were that the Post and Mail should be put into administration; that the two titles should be handed over for free by Trinity Mirror – not clear to whom.

Then there was the suggestion that the titles should be run by philanthropists, rather than the ‘greedy b***ers’ that run them now. Or the rather strange suggestion that the Post and Mail should be printed in all manner of different languages, from Urdu to Swahili and back again.

Among those who this struck a chord with was free newspaper entrepreneur and panellist Chris Bullivant, who believes that the future is free (not surprisingly really – he was one of the people behind the relatively short lived Daily News, a free newspaper in Birmingham which launched back in 1984).

Unfortunately, the cost and practicalities of a multi-language free newspaper would appear insurmountable, in my view.

You’d probably have to get rid of all the journalists to pay for the translation services, for one thing.

And also, how will you make sure Mrs Wong at no 23 gets the Cantonese version, and Mrs Patel at no 21 gets the Urdu version? As I recall, those sort of issues didn’t trouble the Daily News delivery boys – their speciality was dumping piles of newspapers in the nearest canal (allegedly!)

Must mention a few more curious suggestions from the floor – one was that Advantage West Midlands should prop up the Post and Mail, and another was that the city council should get involved.

An incredulous Nigel Hastilow, panel member and former Post editor, could hardly contain himself at those suggestions, and shot them down in flames pretty quickly, on the basis that proper newspapers must retain their editorial independence and can’t be in the pocket of local politicians.

And so, to finish with one final comment from the floor: a complaint actually, that teenagers aren’t reading the newspapers these days. Tut tut, it’s really not good enough.

“Actually, teenagers never did read newspapers,” said Hastilow, correcting another false impression.

And that was it. Not a very inspiring level of debate, and nor did it answer the fundamental question: what are we going to do about the crisis in the local media? Answers on a postcard please, in Urdu, Swahili, or whatever.

…and here’s a few quotes from the panel at the event:

Chris Morley (National Union of Journalists): “I’m probably the chief whinger on the panel.”

“There has been a debauchery of profit taking by media companies without an eye to the future.”

“Journalists need to be properly resourced. It shouldn’t be just about filling space; it’s about quality journalism. People will gravitate to quality”

Nigel Hastilow (former Post editor): (referring to the Birmingham Post) “No more blood left for the stone to give.”

Jonathan Guthrie (Financial Times): “Ownership of local newspapers resides with private owners.”

“People feel less local than they did. They’re not as interested in local news.”

Chris Bullivant (free newspaper entrepreneur): “Future of regional newspapers is free.”

Filed under: Public Relations