Regional Newspapers

Debate between Austin Mitchell and Eric Joyce

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Westminster Hall

[Austin Mitchell (Great Grimsby) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Burton (Andrew Griffiths) and agree wholeheartedly not only with what he said but with the solutions that he suggested. It is a question not of subsidy but of support and of channelling effort into local newspapers. The local press is vital to all of us. It is our means of communication with our constituents and our way of finding out what goes on in the world. We cannot have a big enough office staff to tell us everything that is going on in Grimsby or Rochdale. We need the local press, and it is central to local democracy.

It is sad, therefore, the local press being weakened. Three processes are bringing that about. The first is the closure of local newspapers. In the past seven years, 20% have closed down. Another is the fact that many have gone weekly, rather than daily. That happened, for instance, to the Halifax Courier, the Huddersfield Examiner, and the Scunthorpe Telegraph. That has been done, really, as a way of screwing up the rate of return. It is going to be a favourite tactic of David Montgomery and Local World. Journalists are fired and costs are cut, and the rate of profit goes up with a weekly paper.

Thirdly, there is the firing of journalists. It is interesting that the Northcliffe group, which in 2010 employed 3,130 people in its local papers, this year employs only 2,450. That reduction, by hundreds, in the number of journalists all over the country weakens the quality of the local press. That is the inevitable effect, because the senior journalists, who are the best paid, are the ones who are made redundant or pushed out. Juvenile staff—untrained, semi-trained or inadequately trained young journalists—are brought in and paid less. That means that photographs are not taken, and courts, councils and general local affairs are not covered.

[Eric Joyce (Falkirk) (Ind)]

It occurs to me that some large newspaper organisations, such as the Johnston Press—The Falkirk Herald, the original Johnston Press newspaper, is in my constituency—are getting rid of editors in some cases. Does he agree that that does not seem like a good idea, either?

[Austin Mitchell]

I agree absolutely. More importantly to us, and to local democracy, what is happening means that there is no inquiry into local power elites, which can be closer and more tightly knit than central power elites, which are the subject of a good deal of inquiry from the national press. Scandals are therefore not unearthed. I remind that House that it was the Bradford Telegraph and Argus in its vigorous and more campaigning younger days that unearthed the Poulson scandal and brought it to national attention—first the attention of Private Eye and then the attention of national newspapers. That was a local newspaper unearthing a local scandal, which would have gone unknown had it not been for its diligent inquiries. Those inquiries are not made any longer. The newspapers have not the staff to do them. Their coverage is all too often in the form of press releases and handouts from interested parties, pressure groups and business, rather than inquiring journalism. That will mean a less adequate democracy, less information and a less informed public. It will also mean the breakdown of training schemes such as the Northcliffe schemes.

We know why all this is happening. Adverts are being diverted on to the internet and their number is down, because of the recession. It is also because the management of the newspapers have been far too greedy. The chief executive of Newsquest is paid more that £500,000 in annual salary, when journalists are paid £21,000 on average. It is scandalous that such highly paid management are firing journalists all over the country to cut costs, which also cuts the quality of local newspapers. Newsquest staff have not had a pay rise for three of the past four years. Executive remuneration at the Johnston Press is £2.5 million, but its losses for 2011 are registered as £144 million—the management are well paid for running a major loss.

My hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) gave the example of Yattendon Holdings, the controlling group of Iliffe News and Media. It was involved in a tax scam, which Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs eventually closed up. Anthony Morton, the Yattendon Holdings finance director, said frankly in an e-mail to the company’s accountants:

“What we would like to do is to be able to reduce reported profits in the newspaper subsidiaries, since the levels of profit become common knowledge”—

as they should—

“and could lead to union claims.”

That is absolutely scandalous.

The attempt to get a high rate of return has led to the firing of journalists and the deterioration of quality. Nothing sells local papers better than good-quality journalism and good-quality reporting of local issues and local people, but it has been cut back, and the result all over is falling circulation of local newspapers. If Local World is going to make more of its newspapers weekly, it will happen all over the country.

I must of course mention the Grimsby Telegraph—formerly the Grimsby Evening Telegraph—which has done a good job of maintaining quality in the face of the difficulties and the economies that have been forced upon it. It is now printed in Peterborough and has to be hauled to Grimsby, which means it is later with the news than it otherwise would be, but it has still done a good job of maintaining profits and local quality. It is a good example, and I hope that it will not suffer cutbacks under the new group. A more spectacular example is the Cleethorpes Chronicle, which was formed by local journalists, many of them from the Grimsby Telegraph, as a weekly paper in Cleethorpes, Grimsby’s neighbouring town. It is now profitable because it provides good information, good local journalism and good coverage of local issues in Cleethorpes— not Grimsby.

The founding of a local paper is an example of what local initiative can do. If run on a local basis, local papers can still be profitable, and they are profitable. As the hon. Member for Burton said, they are a way to encourage local initiatives and companies, and they can be financed, if necessary, through the regional growth fund as a vital part of local regeneration. We cannot develop a place and support its industries and economy without a local newspaper. I agree with all the other solutions that the hon. Gentleman put forward.

I hope that we will hear from the Minister what can be done. I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington that we must try to reconvene the meeting he mentioned. We need a national meeting of the newspaper chains, with all parties represented, to devise a strategy for local newspapers in the years ahead. Something has to be done. They cannot be allowed to drift downhill in the way they have been.