Like most general elections, this year’s will mainly be fought on the issues of the economy and the leadership qualities of the party leaders.

But what are the three main parties saying about the big issues facing the regional media industry at the present time?

Each of them mentions the word ‘newspaper’ or ‘newspapers’ just once in their manifestos published this week, but those mentions are not without significance.

Here’s our guide to what the parties are saying about four key issues facing the industry: the libel laws, council-funded newspapers, the future of regional TV news, and cross-media ownership.

Libel laws

Conservative: The Conservatives issue a straightforward pledge to “review and reform libel laws to protect freedom of speech, reduce costs and discourage libel tourism.”

Labour: Promises to “bring forward new legislation on libel to protect the rights of defendants to speak freely.” The government’s recent plan to reform the libel laws by capping success fees for lawyers at 10pc ran out of parliamentary time before the election was called.

Lib Dem: The most wide-ranging pledge and the only one to specifically mention journalism (twice). The party promises to “protect free speech, investigative journalism and academic peer reviewed publishing through reform of English and Welsh Libel Laws – including by requiring corporations to show damage and prove malice or recklessness, and by providing a robust responsible journalism defence.” The party also wants to restrict the use of so-called “super-injunctions” such as those used in the Trafigura and John Terry cases.

Council newspapers

Conservative: “We will tighten the rules on taxpayer-funded publicity spending by town halls.”

Labour: No mention. The government has deliberated over whether to ask the Office of Fair Trading to look into whether council newspapers amount to unfair competition for the local press, but is yet to act on it.

Lib Dem: The party pledges to curb “publicly-subsidised competition for paid advertising from local council free sheets.”

Regional TV news

Conservative: The party re-iterates its preference for a “a new network of local television stations” to replace the existing Channel 3 regions, instead of the Labour’s proposed independently-funded news consortia. It also stresses the importance of action to support the local press in performance of its democratic role. “Our plans to decentralise power will only work properly if there is a strong independent and vibrant local media to hold local authorities to account,” it says.

Labour: The manifesto makes an explicit promise to proceed with IFNCs. “We are committed to maintaining plurality in regional news provision. We will fund three regional news programme pilots from the digital switchover under-spend in the current licence-fee period.”

Lib Dem: “The Liberal Democrats’ support a diverse regional and local media. We will help maintain independent local sources of news and information by enabling partnerships between TV, radio and newspaper companies to reduce costs.”

Cross-media ownership

Conservative: The most wide-ranging and explicit pledge: “We will sweep away the rules that stop local newspapers owning other local media platforms.”

Labour: No mention. The government is on record as having said the existing rules do not need changing as they are sufficiently flexible to deal with any proposals for further industry consolidation.

Lib Dem: No specific mention, but the party pledges to ensure “that the BBC does not undermine the viability of other media providers through unfair competition based on its public funding and dominant position.”