Leveson inquiry hears of blow to analogue website market

In giving evidence to Lord Leveson's inquiry into press standards and ethics, editor-in-chief of Huffington Post UK Carla Buzasi said "digital websites are the future of the media industry".

An analogue website in development, yesterday

This seemingly innocuous comment laid bare the desperate state of the analogue online media industry where jobs have been falling at an alarming rate.

An industry insider told us that "we've been forced to lay off over 60% of our staff in the last two years and yet this government - like the one before it - refuse to lift a finger to help us out".

This once-thriving bastion of British industry was a major generator of jobs and wealth, but has been in the doldrums since the dotcom boom in the early 2000s. "We'd have a team in the office drawing the news on monitor-sized tablets and send runners out to homes and offices up and down the land to show them to people by holding them up in front of their typewriters. To get the page turned, they'd squeeze a mouse until the runner heard it squeak and he'd move on to the next tablet. It kept all sorts of people in work, but there's just not the appetite for it now".

Quizzed on the future of the industry, our insider continued "It's tough. I try to keep the company going as best I can, but demand isn't strong. A lot of our people are being snapped up by digital rivals. What Ms Buzasi said to Leveson is probably about fair, but we feel there's a real niche for analogue websites for those that want the real hand-crafted charm we offer to read the news and see pictures of piano-playing cats on".

Industry bigwigs are hoping that the raising of this issue at Leveson will help prompt a revival. "We're getting together as an industry", said our contact, "and lobby government. This classically British service should be retained for future generations and the skills required taught in our schools and colleges".