Regional Newspapers

Debate between Lee Scott and Andrew Griffiths

Wednesday 5th December 2012 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Griffiths (Burton) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Hood. It is a great pleasure to be serving under your chairmanship today.

I welcome all those colleagues who have taken the time and trouble to take part in this important debate on this busy day. I think that is because we all recognise the importance of our local newspapers in the communities that we represent. We recognise the value and contribution that a daily or weekly newspaper makes to the lives of the people we seek to serve.

The debate is topical because of two important developments in the past few days. First, as colleagues understand, this week the House has been debating the consequences of the Leveson report. None of us can fail to be appalled by the revelations that came out of the phone-hacking inquiries and by the disreputable activities of some members of the journalist profession. It is only right for us to consider the future implications for our free press. What was clear from the report, however, was that the one sector of the media industry that was free from blame was our regional and local newspapers.

[Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. Does he agree that it would be totally wrong for the local press which are not at fault for anything—as acknowledged in the Leveson report—to be punished for the fault of other, far larger newspapers of national consequence? The local press have done nothing wrong whatever.

[Andrew Griffiths]

I thank my hon. Friend for that important intervention and agree with him wholeheartedly, because it is essential that our regional press, which are under the greatest pressure, should not be burdened with expensive and difficult regulation, and the finger of blame should not be pointed at them. As Justice Leveson points out, the regional press are free from such accusations. I draw attention to what he says in the report:

“In relation to regional and local newspapers, I do not make a specific recommendation but I suggest that the Government should look urgently as what action it might be able take to help safeguard the ongoing viability of this much valued and important part of the British press. It is clear to me that local, high-quality and trusted newspapers are good for our communities, our identity and our democracy and play an important social role.”

He goes on to say, in the executive summary, that many local and regional newspapers

“are no longer financially viable and they are all under enormous pressure as they strive to re-write the business model necessary for survival. Yet their demise would be a huge setback for communities (where they report on local politics, occurrences in the local courts, local events, local sports and the like) and would be a real loss for our democracy.”

That is why it is so important for us to have the debate today and why we agree the importance of the Government focusing on providing a sustainable future for our regional press.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Griffiths]

I am sure that my hon. Friend appears regularly in her local newspapers because she makes important contributions such as that. She touches on two important points: democracy, which I will come on to later; and employment. Not only do local newspapers employ a number of people in our constituencies, they are also the training or breeding grounds for the national journalists of tomorrow. We can all point to august journalists, people with a fine career in journalism, who have earned their spurs, done their apprenticeship and learned the trade in regional newspapers—covering the parish council, the village fête and the flower show. This is a good training ground to understand grass-roots communities and grass-roots’ politics. We lose that at our perils, although losing it we are. Since January 2002, we have lost 13.2% of our local newspapers, and I do not want to lose any more. My hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Karen Lumley) referred to democracy. We all recognise the important role that local newspapers play in holding local authorities and public figures to account for their decisions.

One of the key thrusts of the Government’s agenda is localism. We want to devolve power down to the lowest possible level. We want to empower local communities, through local councils, to make decisions that best affect their communities. If we are to hand down that responsibility, and if we are to hand down that power to elected councillors and officials, such as police commissioners, it is even more important that we have the right checks and balances in place to hold them to account. It is even more important that people scrutinise the work of our councils and police commissioners to ensure that local people are properly represented, that they get the government they deserve, and that local money is spent effectively. How can that be done if local reporters do not attend council meetings?

[Mr Scott]

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the biggest assets of a local press—I feel duty-bound to mention the Ilford Recorder and the Wanstead and Woodford Guardian in which hon. Members may read my column tomorrow—is that they print facts, not with glamour or spin, but just the facts of what happens, whether a flower show, a council meeting or any other event?

[Andrew Griffiths]

I will dash to my computer tomorrow morning to find my hon. Friend’s column online. He is absolutely right. Lord Justice Leveson said in his report that although there are sometimes allegations of inaccuracy in local media, they do not have the same political allegiances, and they report both sides of the argument. I am sure that all hon. Members can point to stories that they disagree with, but people cannot hide from their local newspapers, because they have phone numbers and know where people live, and can hold them to account for decisions that affect their readership and our constituents. That is hugely important to us as politicians.