Oxford Mail
Oxford Mail
-Strong audience across digital and print with a combined reach of 394,000 adults each month = 79% of adults in the city 2022 saw historic news brand the Oxford Mail lead the way with an emphasis on delivering trusted news in challenging times. This has been one of the title’s strongest years, with a mix of exclusive scoops, long-running investigations, strong campaigns and special reports focusing on major issues. Plus, a renewed campaigning determination, holding authorities to account and fighting for residents. Some of our biggest stories this year included overhaul of the road network with controversial LTN and ZEZ measures (exclusives later revealed the shocking cost of both projects), royal visits, severe water leaks and a series of shocking murders. Investigations included a revelation that most uni crimes go unreported, no action on 67% of local crimes, a court report on Boris Johnson’s godfather admitting road crash blame, shocking news that an anti-abuse help code was being ignored, number of arrests following drink spiking spate, shocking truth behind hospital waiting times, school exclusion rates and news that hospital same sex rules were broken hundreds of times. Following an overhaul of the editorial team, it was decided a concentration was important to rebuild the disconnect between the title and community whilst also maintaining solid sales figures and excellent online growth. New specialist roles were created. As well as delivering targeted content this also shaped a new daily topic-led online newsletter strategy. A renewed focus on campaigning has been met with huge success. Campaigns in 2022 included Your Money Matters (guidance, tips and exclusive reader offers during cost of living crisis), Not in Our Name (calling for end to Russia twinning association), Enough is Enough (plea for action to end road deaths) and more. All our newspapers have a good balance of news, features, community and sports. Some of the biggest sport stories included a planned stadium move, ownership takeover and death of Oxford United legend Joey Beauchamp. Our submissions showcase some of our biggest and best editions and stories of the year. To support the Oxford Mail’s entry, we have submitted two newspapers and three further examples which highlight this: -Mar 9: Special edition calling for action to end tragic death of Oxford’s cyclists and demand for change for our ‘Cycling City’ -Sept 9: Strongest UK regional paper showing the day after Her Majesty’s death with 26 pages of local reaction and tributes and a 24-page supplement. The paper was ripped apart at 6.30pm and printed at 2am with no other news content featured. Note: PDF does not include supplement due to file size limit -Investigations and campaigns: also submitted is a closer look at our university sex crime investigation, the successful Not in Our Name campaign and a probe into concerns that a help code was not being recognised and acted on in shops