A weekly editor fired a parting shot at Facebook as he bowed out after nine years in the job, accusing the tech giant of replacing news with ‘any old nonsense.’

As previously reported on HTFP, Phil Creighton is standing down as editor of Wokingham Today, the paper he helped launch after the closure of the Wokingham Times in 2015.

In a final first-person piece, Phil expressed his pride that the title had become the “trusted news source” for its local patch.

But he hit out at the tech giants for taking away the “bread and butter” funding of local news, singling out Facebook for its decision to downgrade news content in its feeds.

Wrote Phil: “Local newspapers are essential not just for local democracy, but to help keep a town greased. They are a safety valve, a champion, and a court jester all rolled into one.

“Every community needs a trusted local news source. I am proud that over the past decade, we have become yours.

“But the industry – and society – has a fundamental problem. Companies like Meta and Google have taken advertising away from local newspapers. They have effectively taken away our bread-and-butter funding.

“They are happy to take your advertising money, but they aren’t giving you local news.

“Schemes such as Facebook funding a community reporter were vital for us, and to have them ended prematurely is a massive shame.

“We’ve also seen them change the way you see things in your Facebook feed, meaning local news is ebbing away in favour of groups where people can post any old nonsense without having it verified first. A shouting match, rather than researched, curated, and accurate reporting.”

Phil, pictured, also took a pop at big groups which publish generic content across multiple titles.

“We don’t have to make profits for shareholders who live in the United States. We’re not trying to fob you off by printing the same articles in John O’Groats Weekly to the Lands End Bugle,” he wrote.

Phil is also stepping down as editor of sister title Reading Today which he launched in 2021.

Although Phil was responsible for launching the two titles, they are owned by a social enterprise company headed by publisher David Riley.