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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support local and regional newspapers following the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Government is clear that local and regional newspapers play an invaluable role in the fabric of our society. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government committed to supporting local and regional newspapers, both through its manifesto, and in response to the 2019 independent Cairncross Review on the future of high quality journalism.

The Cairncross Review looked at the overall state of the news media market, identifying a range of challenges and making nine recommendations for Government, regulators and industry to support sustainability within the sector, including at a local and regional level. The Government response, published in January this year, set out support for the majority of the recommendations, and the Government had already begun taking some of them forward before the onset of the current health crisis.

Covid-19 has exacerbated and accelerated many of the issues identified in the Cairncross Review and, in recognition of the importance of high quality local news provision, the Government has focused both on alleviating the existential threat posed by the pandemic and simultaneously continuing to progress commitments made in our response to the Review.

To date, we have worked with Nesta to develop a £2million pilot innovation fund, launched in October 2019, which seeks to invest in new technological prototypes, start-ups and innovative business models to explore new ways of sustaining the industry. The pilot Future News Fund is due to come to an end in June. The Government is considering options for a full, expanded fund ahead of the next Spending Review.

The Cairncross Review noted that society is increasingly moving online and news publishers are facing significant challenges in transitioning to sustainable digital business models. Covid-19 has expedited these structural changes. As set out in our response to the Review, the Government agrees that codes of conduct that formalise the relationships between news publishers and online platforms may help to rebalance that relationship. We are continuing to consider options in this area in the context of wider work on competition in digital markets, and look forward to the recommendations in the Competition and Market Authority’s final report into the online advertising market, due by 2 July.

The Government will continue to consider all possible options in the interests of promoting and sustaining high-quality news journalism beyond the immediate threat of Covid-19. We are committed to getting this work right, so future generations can engage with and be inspired by a free and vibrant press.