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Media: Local and Regional Newspapers

My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Harrison, on obtaining a debate on this very important issue. I also remember my early years in local government and being terrified to see the chap sitting in the gallery watching and listening to every word and worrying that I would make a mess of my speech. That was a long time ago. I do not wish to say too much about how important local and regional newspapers are, but they are an essential public service of which we should be proud and fiercely protective. At the moment, there is no doubt that local newspapers are in crisis. Many believe that they are in the greatest crisis that the industry has ever faced. It has been estimated by one of the most respected industry analysts that, at present, half the country’s 1,300 local newspapers will be out of business within the next five years. That is an extremely concerning prediction. In many aspects, local newspapers are the bedrock of the media industry. Much journalistic investigation and news content is collected by local newspapers and filters up to national newspapers, to radio, to online newspapers and even to television and the BBC. It is very important that local papers have the chance to continue their great and valuable work. Furthermore, it is imperative for democracy and local accountability that local and regional newspapers survive. However, due to severe commercial pressures, such as we have already heard today—for example, a decline in advertising revenues, reduced circulation, the emergence of online newssheets to name but a few—many papers have been forced to close altogether. Between January 2008 and July 2009 alone, 66 local newspapers were forced to close. But even where papers have not closed, their offices on the high street are being shut, the number of journalists employed is falling and the number of photographers, as we have heard, is no longer the same. Between July 2008 and September 2009, more than 900 journalists lost their jobs. Is the Minister concerned that the decline in journalist positions will lead to a decline in applicants and specialist journalists, which will lead to a decline in the standards of journalism overall? What are the Government doing to support local and regional newspapers so that they can keep standards high? In June 2009, the Digital Britain report acknowledged the negative impact on independent local newspapers of local authority newspapers. However, nothing concrete has been done to investigate this. Does the Minister agree that an investigation needs to begin so that solutions can be sought and enacted before more damage is done? When will the Audit Commission, Ofcom, the Office of Fair Trading, and the Government stop passing the buck and take some decisions? Does the Minister believe that newspapers produced by councils should have to be clearly distinguishable from commercial newspapers so that the public are not misled as to the independence of the reporting? Is the Minister concerned that if council-run papers replace their independent counterparts, it will lead to a less rigorous scrutiny of local officials at the price of democracy? Do the Government support council newspapers and have they any plans to tighten up the local authority publicity code? As I said earlier, it is tremendously important that we see the decline in local news companies as a very serious problem. Their influence is huge and their likely disappearance will have much more dire consequences than I think many appreciate. Like others, I look forward to the Minister’s response.