The Conservative Party says it wants to change the “bureaucratic rules” governing local newspaper ownership.

Party leader David Cameron and Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt launched the plans today in a bid to help struggling newspapers in the recession.

Proposals will reduce regulations around the ownership of local newspapers and allow them to consolidate with each other and across platforms into online, TV and radio, the party says.

Mr Cameron said: “Local papers are closing and staff are being made redundant in the face of falling advertising revenue and competition from the internet and local authority free sheets.

“That’s why today the Conservative Party is going to announce plans to sweep away the bureaucratic rules that mean that a rigid law decides who owns what bits of the media in local communities.”

Mr Hunt added: “It is now time to allow new industry models to emerge that will encourage investment not just in local papers but local online services and new local TV companies.”

The plans have been welcomed by Trinity Mirror which said: “We welcome this contribution to the debate and hope it adds to the sense of urgency surrounding the issue because newspapers are going out of business every week and there’s no time to waste in reforming these outdated rules.”

But the National Union of Journalists has hit out, saying the Tory proposal will do nothing to solve the problems facing quality journalism.

General secretary Jeremy Dear said: “This looks like a policy that has been rushed out in response to calls by media owners who are simply looking to make even more cuts to our already limping local press.

“These plans fail to deal with the problems facing local journalists. Consolidation of media ownership has meant office and title closures; it has meant journalists taken out of their communities, fundamentally undermining their ability to do their jobs well.

“We need our politicians to come up with proposals for how local journalism can be saved not surrendered to big business interests who have taken multi-million pound profits whilst cutting back on quality journalism.

“The Conservatives might see media regulation as burdensome red tape but it is what ensures people have access to varied media and different voices.”

Comments

Jimbob (27/03/2009 13:31:20)
All Cameron’s proposal will do is allow Goliaths like Trinity Mirror swallow up the Davids and then close them down where they are rival papers. We will end up with no choice of which paper/media to read and advertisers will be forced to pay a higher price too.