Should the government, or the BBC, help local newspapers?

Should the Government intervene to help local newspapers survive the recession?

This was the suggestion put forward in a House of Commons debate earlier this week.

Two things struck me about the debate. First, as we've reported in the Birmingham Post and Mail, Cabinet Office Minister Ian Pearson hinted that some kind of help for the industry may be announced in a Government policy paper due out on Monday January 26.

Mr Pearson, who also happens to be a local MP representing Dudley South, told a backbencher: "The final issue that I want to mention is financial support. My hon. Friend raised this issue, as did other hon. Members, and it is a complex one, given the requirement that freedom of editorial control must not be threatened by state intervention.

"I want to reassure him that such support is being considered within the Digital Britain initiative."

Digital Britain is a green paper - an early policy document - which will be (according to a government press release) "an action plan to secure the UK's place at the forefront of innovation, investment and quality in the digital and communications industries."

Those of you with interests in blogging, the internet and the future of media big and small might find it interesting, it seems to me.

The second thing that struck me was the pessimism MPs taking part in the debate all seemed to have about the future of local papers.

Solihull MP Lorely Burt, a Lib Dem, suggested the BBC should step in and set up some kind of "joint venture website" with local journalists.

She said: "It would keep local journalism alive and kicking, it would be attractive to advertisers and more interesting, varied and local, and it would create a synergy beneficial to both."

The problem with this idea is that local papers already have their own local websites, of varying quality, and believe they have an important role in helping them stay afloat.

Sharing their advertising revenue with the BBC would hardly help. Having said that, the BBC has clearly invested in the technology and expertise to create high quality websites, so perhaps this could help smaller publishers.

I'm not sure, however, whether Ms Burt was worried about helping media businesses at all - or if she simply wants to help local journalists continue to perform what she believes is an important role.

Local journalism as a public service rather than a commercial business? A subversive idea.

The full debate is worth a look. I enjoyed Shrewsbury MP Dan Kawczynski (Con) explaining how much he enjoys being "probed" by the Express and Star's political editor.

What do you make of the analysis by Tory Culture Spokesman Ed Vaizey, giving the official Conservative response to the debate?

He said:

I am grateful that I do not have to run a local newspaper, because it is an extremely difficult job, but local newspapers must completely rethink their business model. They have relied on property advertising and car advertising, and even without a recession a lot of that advertising is going on to the internet, particularly national websites that allow people to type in their postcode and find a local car or house that they want to buy.

So local newspapers must rethink their business model, but if they can do so, that would put them back at the heart of their communities, because the unique selling point that they have is a strong relationship with local people, local MPs - as we have seen in this debate - and local businesses. They can become an important community resource.

 

                   

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (2)

Write comment

Name

Email (required but not shown)

Website (optional)

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment

Journalism