Newspapers continue fight to beat the crunch

THE TV news channels and national media continue to be awash with depressing tales of mass-scale redundancies, recessions and a global credit crisis.
But in a bid to fight back, more local and regional papers are continuing to battle for their own communities and bolster business on their doorstep.
HoldtheFrontPage has reported on several campaigns across the UK press in recent weeks and here are a few more.
Newsquest daily The Press is running York Means Business and making a big deal of those local companies which are bucking the downward trend.
Recent good news story for the East and North Yorkshire area include the creation of new packing factory worth 100 jobs, HSBC's £300m proposal to build a new data centre creating 2,000 construction jobs, the expansion of the University of York and 50 new posts at a growing local law firm.
The Press says it will do everything it can to promote the York area as a centre of business excellence and also help unemployed people find fresh employment.
And Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote an exclusive first-person piece for The Press about his support for the campaign.
Not content with helping Southampton's unemployed get back to work, the Southern Daily Echo has now launched Buy Local, Shop Local.
As the name suggests, the Echo wants Hampshire shoppers to stay local and support butchers, greengrocers and local cafes and restaurants.
To launch the campaign, Echo reporters and staff took to streets with campaign posters for local business to display in their shop windows.
Buy Local, Shop Local follows on from the Echo's Sell Yourself campaign which it launched in January.
The paper offered unemployed people the chance to show off their skills for free in a special in-paper supplement, in the hope local firms would offer them an interview.
The independently-owned Henley Standard has been garnering support from north of the border for its 'Think Local' campaign launched earlier this month.
After featuring on the BBC Breakfast news programme, the Standard was contacted by Strathaven Echo editor Bill Howat who said he would launch his own campaign after his after seeing the piece on TV.
The Standard's campaign is highlight local businesses, groups and individuals going out of their way to help other members of the community.
The Southport Visiter has joined forces with other local media to promote 'I Love Southport' – a campaign run by Southport Business Enterprise, a body responsible for maintaining the town centre.
The campaign is being run in conjunction with the Visiter's own 'Shop Local' initiative which it launched before Christmas to encourage people to shop in the Merseyside town.
I Love Southport is aimed specifically at boosting the resort's retail and hospitality trade and, as part of the campaign, a loyalty scheme has been set up with local businesses.
The lucky winner will receive £1,000 in cash just for using local shops regularly while the Visiter and other newspapers will be running competitions to win short breaks and shopping experiences in the town.

Source: HoldtheFrontPage.co.uk