A Labour MP will ask the Government to fund struggling local newspapers in a Commons debate next week.

Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, has secured the House of Commons debate in a bid to save what he calls the “beacon of democracy”.

It follows an early day motion which Mr Kumar tabled in November after Trinity Mirror announced it was cutting jobs and closing offices on the Evening Gazette in his constituency.

His call echoes that of Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger who asked for public money to help local papers at the Society of Editors conference in November.

Mr Kumar said: “There is no doubt the economic downturn is affecting our local press.

“This has led to lower levels of advertising, static circulation at best and rising external costs.

“Our local press is crucial to both local democracy and to the retention of a locally well-informed public.

“At the end of the day, if a shop sadly closes, one can usually find other similar shops nearby.

“But if a local newspaper closes, then the chance of rescuing or replacing it are next to non-existent.

“I will be asking in the debate if the Government will examine the concept of some form of state support for local newspapers that are struggling, so as to allow them to survive the downturn.

“Similar schemes exist elsewhere in Europe, and I can see no reason why such schemes – possibly part-funded by the proceeds from the coming sale of parts of the wireless spectrum being vacated by analogue broadcasters – could not be set up here.

“Our local press is a beacon of democracy and we cannot allow that beacon to be extinguished.”

Comments

Dan Depan (15/01/2009 13:31:36)
Another MP totally misses the point. Local newspapers are not struggling – they are being sacrificed by national and multi-national conglomerates who dissipated the profits from the glory years by awarding themselves undeserved bonuses and perks and, when profits reduced, pulled up the drawbridge and dumped newspapers in places they could barely find on a map – although one of their three PAs prbably could, or failing that the chaufeur. To give them government handouts would just allow them to laugh even more up their sleeves … now if the money was to be available to locally owned, locally produced and properly staffed media organisations …

Grinch (16/01/2009 07:46:25)
State help to bail out companies that *only* make £68m profit? God help us. http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/081120clifferes.shtml

Alan (19/01/2009 16:35:07)
Why not? The Government should pay the News Papers for being so loyal and not reporting the lies and corruption of the Labour Party. Pay them and keep them quite.