An editor has urged ministers to remember “underfunded” independent titles when offering support to the regional press industry.

Bedford Independent co-founder Paul Hutchinson has made the plea after Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan vowed to ensure the journalism industry “thrives in the digital age.”

Paul, pictured, is among a number of independent and hyperlocal editors to have criticised tech giants such as Google for what they see as a perceived bias towards bigger publishers when it comes to granting funding to the regional press industry.

He previously urged Ms Donelan’s predecessor Nadine Dorries to use her power to ensure titles like the Independent get a “fair share” of external funding for their journalism.

Writing in response to an open letter Ms Donelan published for Journalism Matters week, Paul said larger publishers had “received millions in grants from tech giants and millions more of public funding through government advertising”.

He wrote: “We are delighted that the Culture Secretary has said she will be a journalism champion and recognises the part we play in our local community.

“We hope this will change things as, sadly, the support offered so far is disproportionate.”

“Representing independent publications everywhere, when giving evidence to the DCMS [Committee] on the sustainability of local journalism in the summer, we said that it’s time the smaller publishers and independents had a proportionate share of the funding and/or support that seems to flow only to the big players.”

Paul went on to renew an appeal to the Independent’s readers to donate to the site.

He said: “Just one £5 payment from every reader would keep us going for 10 years. If you’re a business, look at where you spend your advertising budget and consider using some of it to put your brand in front of our readers – you’ll grow your business and help us at the same time, it’s a win/win.”

Speaking to HTFP, Paul added: “We’ve had the support us ‘call to arms’ on our site for over two years, taking inspiration from some national titles and other independents.

“Our 130,000 unique monthly readers love what we do, and some want to help make sure we keep doing it. This gives them the perfect opportunity to do so.”

HTFP has approached the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport for a comment.