The Future of News (Communications and Digital Committee Report)

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts

Friday 25th April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Wheatcroft (CB)]

My Lords, I begin by welcoming back the noble Lord, Lord McNally, both to this House and to the committee. Having heard what he had to say about journalists, I must declare my interests as chairman of the Financial Times complaints committee and a long-time journalist.

Yesterday’s front pages provided a typical snapshot of the variety on offer in UK newspapers. Stories ranged from the latest skirmishes in the trade wars to those in the real war in Ukraine. There were selections of photographs of the royals—largely, the young ones—and, on the front page of one national paper, a snapshot of a grinning MP for Clacton proclaiming:

“I’ve got a … chance to be PM”.


That was the Daily Telegraph. We should still be concerned about who might own that newspaper in the future.

For those who are still consumers of traditional national media, there is still plenty of variety on offer. There are reasons to be concerned about its prospects—not merely financial but what changes in ownership might mean for its political leanings—but at least it is there.

In her introduction, the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, explained some of the reasons why we should be fearful. Government intervention may be able to help, most notably on the issue of copyright. As AI becomes ever more prevalent, protecting the rights of those who generate original content is essential. Could the Minister assure the House that the Government will do this and will not be cowed by the power of the big tech companies? We heard chilling evidence in our committee of how the big companies can direct advertisers away from new and upstart news media because of their sheer power. Their power to intimidate government is something the Government must stand up to.

The independence of news is another issue in which the Government have a role. The noble Lord, Lord McNally, was absolutely right to stress the weight of the task now landing on Ofcom and the need for it to have all the resources it possibly can to deal with that. Independence is crucial.

I therefore stress the importance of the work the committee did and thank the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, for her indefatigable and strong leadership. It got us to the place we needed to be. The staff were fantastically helpful, and I congratulate them too. I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Pack, on a very interesting maiden speech. However, with only four minutes, I better get moving.

The area I really want to concentrate on is local news, because that is the area in which there is already a real desert. As many voters prepare to go to the polls on 1 May, they have no idea of what is going on in local politics because it simply is not covered any more. The news deserts mean that, according to the Media Reform Coalition, in 2023 over 2.5 million UK citizens lived in local authority areas without a single local newspaper. The situation is going to get worse.

While online publishing will fill a bit of the gap, we need strong, physical journalism. Local politics has to be reported. The reason a physical paper is essential is that it has longevity and is something that everybody can have access to. The importance of strong local news coverage was recognised by our committee, and we made several recommendations to the Government. Could the Government tell us whether they will do anything, as the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, asked, to reinstate some sort of business rates incentive for local news offices? Could they also, while not putting too much obligation on the BBC, extend what it already does with the local reporting service to have an obligation towards local news? I ask the Minister if she will consider that.