‘Local newspapers are a key part of culture’

‘I AM sure that we would all agree that a thriving local press is essential to healthy democracy.

We may not always agree with the views and opinions of the local paper serving our constituencies.

But most of us will see these papers as representative of our communities and their needs and aspirations.

But it is clear that this role is now under threat as never before.

The chief executive of one of my local newspapers described the situation as a ‘perfect storm’ engulfing local press.

The situation is now so severe that many titles may disappear unless corrective action is taken.

So, what has caused the current situation?

First and foremost it is the economic downturn.

The headlines in the online magazine for the local press – Hold the Front Page – illustrate the current situation very effectively.

Take a sample from just last month: “Gutted reporters facing forced re-location”; “Yorkshire weekly closes – Ripon Gazette sister paper ceases publication”; “Reporters sacrifice pay to save colleagues – Journalists offer to reduce their hours to prevent redundancy”; The area I represent has not escaped these cutbacks.

On Teesside we are served by two excellent daily and evening local newspapers.

There is The Northern Echo, based in Darlington, and the Evening Gazette, based in Middlesbrough.

Both were founded in the heyday of Victorian provincial newspapers and have served our communities through war and peace, boom time and recession.

And I know the reporters and editors are determined to continue doing just this for the coming century.

But both sets of editors and managers have been forced to ask for redundancies and to axe branch offices – a move that I and many of the journalists feel will mean that story generation and sourcing will be affected for the worse.

The economic downturn has not led to a circulation drop – indeed many people want to know how their region is fighting back.

However, over a longer period there has been a steady loss of readership which cannot be ignored.

The British provincial press has seen a drop in circulation by 51 per cent since 1989.

Coupled with this there has been a significant drop in advertising.

Display advertising is down as the retail crunch bites. The staples of local advertising have been adversely affected as people withdraw from the property market, recruitment is put on hold and car sales stagnate.

And yet, the need for good honest local reportage is greater than ever.

Look at the alternatives.

Local and regional television is going under the axe. ITV is to all intents and purposes decimating its regional coverage, which has led to outcry in this Chamber, but has seemingly been rubber-stamped by Ofcom.

Instead, we will be left with a very broad coverage of ‘regional news’.

We must also not the forget the internet.

The internet was – admittedly some years ago – seen as a new and free ‘open house’ for local news and comment.

But, most of those local blogs have become a means for those who merely shout the loudest.

IT is clear that there is a case for some form of rescue package for those local papers who are struggling.

But, in practical terms, what can be done?

Let us take the small things such as advertising.

The state – at both local and national level – is a big spender on advertising.

Can we harness that advertising power so that it both helps our local papers and our local communities?

The Government has recently announced a cash boost to the work of the Department for Work and Pensions and the JobCentre Plus network.

So why not make part of that boost conditional on job centres booking space in their local papers to advertise jobs and courses?

This is where two dreaded words enter the debate: public money.

We need to ask if there is any reason why local newspapers shouldn’t compete with electronic broadcasters for financial support. I am well aware that this is a question that is very sensitive within the local newspaper industry.

Some would have seen this as a threat to editorial autonomy, but I am not as sure that they would reject such an approach now.

After all, as Alan Rushbridger said in the Guardian recently: “Who is to say that Channel 4 or the BBC is any more deserving of state funding than those responsible for the sometimes humdrum, but key task of keeping people informed about what local councils, courts, police and health services are up to?”

So my approach would be based on these principles.

The resource for such aid could come from the digital switchover surplus.

With 16 national licences available for auction, there’s a fair amount of cash the Government can expect to raise.

So why could not local newspapers be in with a shout for some of these revenues, rather than merely shuffling the money around a limited pool of broadcasters?

Ofcom’s most recent review of public service broadcasting sketches a number of scenarios for covering nations, regions and local communities.

This includes a network of local and regional TV news providers, as well as an idea for newspapers to combine with others to provide crossplatform content, including nightly TV bulletins.

It also says that present competition restrictions could be reviewed.

This would involve asking the Office of Fair Trading to assess whether local newspapers could be viewed as being simply part of a wider media market.

THOSE, then, are my proposals. They are far reaching.

But I fear that if they – or ideas of a similar kind – are not considered, then we may well see the collapse of a large part of our local press.

This would be irreparable.

Local newspapers are a key part of the cultural heritage of an area or a town, and once lost would be lost forever.”