For many people, even within the newspaper industry, the announcement that the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) and the Newspaper Society (NS) are to co-locate will hardly set the world alight. But the decision to have the two organisations operating from the NS's new London headquarters under a single director is an interesting development that, over time, is likely to be beneficial to us all.
The plain truth is that the NS, the regional industry body, has always been more active, better organised and better led than the nationals' equivalent, the NPA. So it's good that David Newell, the energetic director of the NS, will also become director of the NPA. This shouldn't be taken as a criticism of the present NPA director, Steve Oram, who is stepping down. Oram's problems in trying to find consensus among viciously competitive national paper groups has always been more difficult than Newell's task in running an industry body where there is a great deal less rivalry among owners. So Newell will require all his diplomatic skills in his new joint role.
The announcement of the move this morning by Murdoch MacLennan, chairman of the NPA (and ceo of the Telegraph group), and Paul Davidson, president of the NS (and chairman and ceo of Newsquest), rightly pointed to the challenges that face the whole industry, irrespective of whether papers are national or regional. They said: "There are significant public policy and external challenges which national and regional newspaper businesses face in common." That's true enough. There are all sorts of problems, not least legal encroachments on press freedom, that require a united stance.
Evidently, both organisations will retain their autonomy. But Newell's joint directorship will make that separateness largely irrelevant. This is a clear precursor to an overdue merger and, given the perceived efficiency of the NS, it is sure to improve the NPA's performance.
