National Union of Journalists members from local newspapers hit by job cuts are to meet with employment minister Gerry Sutcliffe next month to voice their concerns about the future of the industry.

The Under Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs agreed to the meeting at the end of an adjournment debate in parliament on Local Press Ownership, brought by MP Austin Mitchell.

During the debate it was claimed that 1,000 newspaper jobs have been lost in the past six months, and that as a result the quality of local newspapers would suffer.

Austin, who is also chair of the NUJ Parliamentary Group, said: “Despite what some directors and, particularly, accountants seem to think, journalists do need newspapers, and newspapers need journalists.

“Newspapers cannot be produced without journalists. Cut the journalism and all else fails.

“That is a failure from which we all suffer, as does local democracy. There is less coverage of council meetings, less coverage of the courts and less coverage of all local bodies. There is less discussion and less analysis of what is going on locally.”

He continued: “If one does not have the journalists on the required scale, fewer journalists cover stories.

“They do not go out — they stay in the office to cobble together press releases using the glossy spin that companies and institutions produce to say that they are doing well when, in fact, they are not.

“Spin wins — the truth does not prevail — and, as a result, the electorate is less well-informed.”

Austin said that the Department for Trade and Industry needed to look at the “issue of profiteering by local monopolies”, and consider restricting the growing power of newspaper groups by making changes to competition laws.

He said: “Localism is becoming extinct and centralisation is growing. High streets are dying, post offices are closing, and the whole world has been taken over by massive supermarkets. We need to bring democracy back to our people, and we can do that only with the help of the local media.”

In reply, the minister said he did not share his sense of “doom and gloom” about mergers, adding that changes within the industry were being monitored.

He said: “The local press is a competitive world because of the diversification of the media that is taking place.

“It is important that newspapers try to find new, imaginative ways of reaching the public, whether through free newspapers or other media with which they can get involved.

“The Government are mindful of the importance of the media, particularly local media.

“The regulatory regime is in place if there are problems and we are always happy to hear from the NUJ and other bodies about their concerns about the quality of journalism.

“My honourbale friend is right to raise the subject and to ensure that we are all mindful of the quality that we receive from the local media.”

The minister will meet the NUJ Parliamentary Group on April 18.