A six-point plan to help the regional press has been drawn up ahead of a parliamentary debate on the future of local newspapers today.
MPs will meet to discuss the subject in a Westminster Hall debate this afternoon to be led by Labour’s John McDonnell.
The debate is being co-sponsored by Liberal Democrat MP Sir Bob Russell.
Ahead of the discussion, Scottish Newspaper Society director John McLellan, pictured above left, has drawn up a six-point plan which he believes MPs should consider./
It includes:
- Killing off the notion of compulsory arbitration for complainants – likely to open the door to spurious claims which could have a serious impact on local titles.
- Re-examining the impact of the BBC in local markets.
- Ensuring the zero VAT rating for printed newspapers is maintained and extends to associated digital publications.
- Making sure public notices remain public by ensuring the information still appears in widely-read independent publications and are not buried away on council websites no-one reads.
- Outlawing the use of taxpayers’ money to fund council publications designed to compete with independent services.
- Recognising the very different competitive landscape to allow cross-media mergers and acquisitions.
In a blog on the SNS website, John added: “These are not just issues for Westminster, the Scottish Parliament has a role to play too; but there’s no excuse for politicians to shake their heads and in time-honoured fashion say ‘something must be done’ without actually doing much.
“There is plenty they can do if they put their minds to it.”
The debate is due to begin at 1.30pm.
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The inclusion of public notices in this charter-for-profit shows just how stuck in the past the newspaper proprietors are. Anything to try to keep the goose that once laid the golden egg on life support. Local papers used to charge fortunes because councils had a legal duty to publicise even the smallest initiative. Legal waffle for a proposed new pedestrian crossing filled up columns in barely readable 7pt and cost many hundreds, if not thousands of pounds. Few readers understood the jargon, the detail of the various parliamentary acts and the grid references. It was a huge money spinner and rival papers fell over each other in the scramble. That drove the prices down and then councils realised they could save millions nationwide by finding other ways of publishing. Good for them. Tax payers had been ripped off for far too long. Now one of the big ideas is to bring this back – ha!
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I hear one MP protested that JP had moved its staff from a county capital town, leaving it with no office there. He got nowhere. Accountants 1 MP 0.
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Some years back JP shed staff and closed an office of one of our paper’s in the East Midlands.
Our distinguished local MP was ignored too.
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Never once as far as I am aware has my local MP, Conservative Dan Byles, supported our local press. I’ve asked him in the past and he’s replied that it was policy not to support early day motions. It would be good to hear him speak in favour of local newspapers but I’m not holding my breath! He’s standing down at the General Election and if Labour candidate and former government minister Mike O’Brien – who previously held the seat but lost by a few votes – gets elected in May I am sure he will give journos and newspapers more support.
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