Local and Regional News

Marion Fellows Excerpts

Thursday 30th March 2017 Westminster Hall

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Nuttall. I thank the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman) and the Backbench Business Committee for tabling this debate, which has proven to be passionate and interesting in its discussion of all the social media, local newspapers and so on that everyone has talked about. It is a matter of some interest to me, in trying to sum up the debate, that I have heard the same issues being repeated from across the entire UK. Members will have to forgive me if I do not pick up on the particular points they made.

The hon. Member for Bishop Auckland referred to the National Union of Journalists and said that local news is essential for our democracy. I think everyone here would agree with that. MPs need to get messages out—we need to let our constituents know what is happening—and our constituents need to be able to hold us to account. The hon. Lady’s local newspapers have run campaigns that helped her to help her constituents, and I think all of us in this Chamber have had the same kind of experience.

The main issue seems to be that local newspapers are no longer as local as they once were, and I say that from my own experience. I have two—I should say two and a half—local newspapers. The Motherwell Times and Bellshill Speaker are run by Johnston Press and the Wishaw Press is run by Trinity Mirror, but those local papers no longer have local newspaper offices. The Wishaw Press sends a journalist to the Wishaw library every week and asks people to contribute stories online by email, and Johnston Press has an office at the very top part of North Lanarkshire that runs our local paper, whereas Motherwell is very much in the southern part of the county.

There has been a lowering of both quality and pay, which has helped to drive down readership and led to the growth of fake news. Most local newspapers are owned by one of four publishers, as all Members who have spoken in the debate have said. It drives a wedge between newspapers and their communities when they do not have a footprint in the local area. The hon. Member for Luton North (Kelvin Hopkins) referred to his time as a councillor. I, too, can remember when local journalists reported from local council meetings. That has stopped being the case, even since I was a councillor a few years ago. Journalists simply do not have the time.

Facebook and Google’s advertising revenue is expected to grow, and that may need to be looked at, because if they are not taxed properly and that money does not go back into the newspaper industry or local media in all their forms, we are all much the poorer for it.

The hon. Member for Colne Valley (Jason McCartney) regaled us with his experiences as a local radio journalist and as father of the chapel. It is pretty obvious that with fewer and fewer news journalists, the quality of news goes down. He also talked about a drop in the number of newspapers and staff in his area. He spoke about how he uses his membership of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee to question how BBC local democracy reporters will be used. That is also an issue in Scotland, where we will have 80 of them. My hon. Friend the Member for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (Corri Wilson) has already touched on how difficult the situation is and how they should not be used to replace locally based journalists.

The hon. Member for Colne Valley also talked about local TV. In Scotland, we are getting to the stage where we have local TV stations run by Scottish Television and the BBC. The hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Liz Saville Roberts) spoke about the Scottish Six. It will not be on the main BBC Scotland channel. It will be broadcast on a second channel that will only be on from 7 pm to 11 pm. It will therefore not necessarily get the viewership figures that we would want, especially in these times of constitutional debate and interest in Scotland, with Brexit and how it will affect our people. There is also interest in how the BBC will spend the money it raises in Scotland in Scotland itself. The BBC only spends about 55% of what it raises in Scotland in the country. In other areas, the figure is 75% or 80%. That is a real problem. The hon. Lady also talked about Welsh language media. In Scotland, there is an issue with the funding of Gaelic programming. I do not want to beat the drum for Scotland all the time, because what is happening there is happening across the UK.

It is important, as many Members have said, that local media are prevalent, as they are a bastion for local democracy. Local media really understand what is going on locally and can be a good force for local campaigning and fundraising. How many of us look at our children and our grandchildren in the weekly newspaper and sigh and feel very proud? I am really proud of my local papers. Last week, there was a local rally welcoming refugees to Wishaw, and the Wishaw Press turned up in force and had it on the front page. That is local democracy in action. The paper will also cover the proposed Scottish Defence League rally, and I hope it gives that the same amount of coverage, because we have to be balanced in what we say.

I may not agree with what local newspapers write, but their right to write it has to be preserved. The NUJ has highlighted that in its mapping exercise. We need to preserve and protect what we have. The Government should consider an inquiry into local media. I hope the Minister will listen to the calls that Members have made. I am not going to stand here and repeat everything that everyone has said, because although these things bear repetition, I do not think it would advance what has already been said this afternoon. This industry is vital for all of us and all our constituents, and we have to look at it in that light.