With newspaper readerships in decline and a recession in tow, the pressure on journalists at all levels will only increase. Fewer staff and the demand on those remaining to produce ever more copy, according to some, threatens the editorial integrity of journalism.

According to Greenslade this not only threatens to reduce the integrity of journalism, but also the accountability of local government as regional newspapers play an integral role in holding local politicians to account.

This could manifest itself with under-pressure journalists at regional titles publishing articles based on press releases without fully validating the newsworthiness of the issue.

However, just because media content is often generated by PR doesn’t mean it is dishonest. Beth McLoughlin, News Editor at Now Magazine comments that “just because a story is generated by someone with an agenda doesn’t mean that it isn’t worthwhile, or that with the right checks, can’t have journalistic integrity by the time it is published.”

If a political party tries to sell in a story criticising a rival party to a regional newspaper, it clearly has a biased agenda. That does not mean the facts they quote are untrue and nor does it strip the story of value.

I’m sure freesheets will continue to be part of the fabric of our local communities. There is still a demand for what Greenslade calls “commercial rather than journalistic products.” People will still want to know about local news or to find local handymen. All newspapers are commercial operations - that is why the Mail on Sunday gives out free DVDs or The Guardian has given away scores of wall charts. The business model of all newspapers requires them to raise revenue from advertising.

Greenslade’s Evening Standard article which covered our Metrica Numbers research last year quoted Yell’s Susannah Finn as saying: “We may see the occasional case of lazy journalism but for the most part the press is simply working under the pressure of too little time.”

Likewise an article in The Independent covered the emergent “haste and paste” trend identified by Metrica Numbers: “High message delivery and spokespeople mentions suggest the emergence of a copy and paste publishing trend in online media” – Greenslade suggests that this culture has been prevalent in local freesheets.

I will be interested to note from our ongoing research whether the recession means our clients are more able to get their messages across than previously. If newspapers cut back on journalist numbers, those left behind will be under even more pressure to fall into “haste and paste.”