The Newspaper Society has given a cautious welcome to the Government’s Communications white paper which sets out a “lighter touch approach” for future newspaper mergers.

“We are pleased that the Government has listened to the Newspaper Society’s case for reform of the newspaper merger regime and cross-media ownership rules,” said David Newell, director of the Newspaper Society, which represents the regional press.

“We look forward to developing proposals for legislation with the Government which will enable newspapers to compete fairly with all media – old and new. Regional and local newspapers’ role in the communications revolution must be fully recognized in the forthcoming legislation.

“It is vital that changes to the current regime are synchronised so as to ensure that changes to television and radio ownership rules happen at the same time as reforms to the newspaper ownership and cross-media ownership rules. We hope that the Government keeps to a tight timetable for change, with legislation in operation by 2001/2.”

In the white paper, the Government says it “will consider a lighter touch approach for newspaper mergers” but will need to review all the issues further before developing proposals for reform.

On cross-media ownership, the Government says it will propose a system more “appropriate to fast-changing, modern market conditions” with an emphasis on “encouraging competition in media markets.” However, it will “retain safeguards to ensure that the media as a whole can never be exclusively controlled by a small number of major players.”

In its original submission, the Newspaper Society called for a radical overhaul of the current ownership regulations and the disbandment of specialist media controls, to give the regional newspaper industry the freedom to compete against print and non-print media on equal terms.

To read more, visit the Newspaper Society website here.

You can also contact: Lynne Anderson or David Newell at the Newspaper Society on 020 7636 7014 or e-mail [email protected] or [email protected]

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