Local press revenues are set to be further hit by Chancellor George Osborne’s £6bn spending cuts package announced on Monday.

The government’s decison to call an immediate halt to all non-essential advertising campains and freeze recruitment across the civil service is likely to have a significant knock-on effect on the industry, analysts believe.

Mr Osborne announced a freeze in the government’s £540m advertising budget as part of the new govermment’s package of efficiency savings.

Around £100m of that figure is currently spent on press advertising, with a similar amount spent on TV ads.

The government said on Monday of its planned advertising cuts: “Only essential campaigns will be allowed.”

The cuts will mainly affect public information campaigns, for example those highlighting the dangers of teenage alcohol abuse and obesity.

Recruitment advertising budgets will also be affected by the freeze on civil service recruitment for the rest opf 2010/11.

The government is currently obliged to advertise all public-sector job vacancies, many of which appear in the local press.

Comments

Pernickety (26/05/2010 11:50:02)
advertising “campains”….second paragraph….come on, get it right!

dreading_what’s_next (26/05/2010 14:29:05)
Just another nail in the coffin of regional journalism I’m afraid.