Local and Regional News

Rebecca Harris Excerpts

Thursday 30th March 2017 Westminster Hall

[Rebecca Harris (Castle Point) (Con)]

We are having this debate because of our deep concerns about the increasing erosion and loss of local news sources, but I am very blessed in Castle Point. I have a huge number of local papers, such as the monthly Canvey & Benfleet Times; at least three weeklies that cover my patch, the Yellow Advertiser, the Rayleigh, Rochford & Castle Point Standard and Essex’s The Enquirer; a small publication called the District News, which is exclusively for Canvey Island; and, still, a daily paper, The Echo, part of the Newsquest group.

The Echo actually produces two different editions for my constituency, including a specific edition just for Canvey Island, which is incredible when we consider that it is an island of fewer than 40,000 souls. Moreover, a daily paper is a hungry beast—it is very stretched, and it is hard work to keep filling a daily paper. As a politician, people might think that I am constantly trying to get my face in the press, but actually, on several occasions I have found myself apologising that I have not given papers news stories, which is a no-brainer and would have been helpful. I therefore feel a responsibility, in speaking up in support of local newspapers, to remember to ensure I give them news.

The success of the papers that we have kept is because they have the right local and community formula. The fact that they continue to be supported might be due to the strong sense of community, but it is clearly a two-way street, in terms of the local paper helping to reinforce a sense of community spirit, which is what makes them so important. As has been said, they carry information that would not otherwise be covered.

It is sometimes easy, when looking at other people’s local newspapers, to laugh and deride the total parochialism of the “cat stuck up a tree” story or, more often, the local councillor with a lanyard and high-vis jacket pointing angrily at a pothole, but without local papers and radio stations, a lot of issues that matter enormously to local people would get no coverage at all. As the hon. Member for Bishop Auckland (Helen Goodman) pointed out, local media are often critical to important local campaigns. I have often had reason to be extremely grateful to my local media. I am indebted to them for their support of local public campaigns with which I have been involved, including saving the Deanes secondary school in my constituency. Although the suspension of postal deliveries on unmade roads affected few people, it was incredibly important locally. It would never have got any coverage except in the local paper, but that helped hold Royal Mail to account.

Local media are unbiased compared with some of the nationals. I have rarely read anything in a national paper about which I have known the inside track that has been accurate in every respect, but I have often been quite pained by the accuracy of my local paper, as have local residents. I do not understand why they want to report accurately the age of everyone mentioned in the paper, but they seem to get those ages right, which we do not always appreciate. That also relates to the issue of clearing up misleading rumours—fake news has been mentioned—which can easily prosper in online forums. If not for investigation by honest, trusted, dedicated local journalists who can be relied on to put the facts straight, there would be a lot of misinformation out there and a lot of harm caused by rumours.

I return briefly to the community function. In my experience, the value of local papers cannot be stressed enough. They keep democracy thriving, keep local organisations and businesses under proper scrutiny, support local charities and community groups, and provide a platform for issues and organisations that otherwise would not have one. Elderly residents find them incredibly important to countering the risk of loneliness and a sense of isolation. It would be an enormous loss if we did not have thriving local media in this country.

I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing this important debate, which has given us the opportunity to highlight how valued, valuable and appreciated the work of our local newspapers and press is. After this debate, I will be able to go back to complaining about them.