Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of local newspapers' (1) importance to local communities and towns, and (2) economic health and future viability; and what plans they have to provide support to local newspapers.

The government is committed to supporting local and regional newspapers as vital pillars of communities and local democracy. They play an essential role in holding power to account, keeping the public informed of local issues and providing reliable, high-quality information. They also play a key role in democratic engagement - last year, government-commissioned research into the importance of newspapers to local communities found that changes in news provision and consumption over time had significant effects on participation in local elections in England, underlining the vital importance of a sustainable local news industry to a properly functioning democracy.

However, as the independent Cairncross Review into the future of journalism identified, society is increasingly moving online and local news publishers are facing significant challenges in transitioning to sustainable digital business models. The government agreed with the majority of the Review’s recommendations for supporting the sector, and has already taken steps to implement many of them. Most recently, the government response to the CMA market study into online platforms and digital advertising accepted the case for a new pro-competition regime for digital markets. At the heart of this will be a mandatory code of conduct to govern the relationships between dominant firms and those that rely on their services, including news publishers. The code will be a significant intervention in the government’s effort to support the sustainability of the news publishing industry, helping to rebalance the relationship between publishers and the online platforms on which they increasingly rely.

In addition, local newspapers have benefited from a number of other recent interventions, including the extension of business rates relief for local newspapers in England for an additional five years; the investment of £2 million in the Future News Fund; and the zero-rating of VAT on e-newspapers. During the pandemic, many newspapers have also benefited from a unique and unprecedented government advertising partnership, designed to deliver important messages to UK citizens. Newspapers received up to £35 million additional government advertising revenue as part of the first phase of our coronavirus communications campaign. The campaign has subsequently been extended with at least 60% funding going to smaller regional and local titles.

We will continue to consider all possible options in the interests of promoting and sustaining high-quality news journalism at a local level.