The Government is calling a summit on the future of the regional media following meetings on Wednesday with the NUJ, Newspaper Society and Society of Editors.
Junior culture minister Barbara Follett made the announcement during a debate in the House of Commons yesterday.
The NUJ said the idea had been put forward to Culture Secretary Andy Burnham by NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear and members of the union’s parliamentary group at a meeting on Wednesday.
Other sources say the summit was Burnham's idea and was discussed with representatives of the Newspaper Society prior to the meeting to the NUJ.
Regional publishers are said to want the summit to win support for the relaxing of the merger regime and to stop local councils launching newspaper-style publications that take public sector ads away from local papers.
Dear said: “The meeting with Andy Burnham was very constructive and I am delighted that our suggestion has been picked up so quickly. Journalists on regional papers, TV, radio and websites are losing their jobs every day. Papers are closing, local offices are being boarded up.
“The government summit must involve journalists, media owners, and community and co-operative groups. It must actively consider all options for the future of local media.”
Showing posts with label Andy Burnham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Andy Burnham. Show all posts
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
NUJ to meet Culture Secretary over media cutbacks and job losses
NUJ leaders are to hold urgent talks with UK Culture Secretary Andy Burnham on the cutbacks and job losses engulfing newspaper publishers and TV companies.
The union says it is engaged in wide-ranging discussions on the future of the industry and later this month will put its case for strengthening local journalism to Burnham when he meets the NUJ Parliamentary Group.
Answering questions in the Commons this week, the Culture Secretary promised to meet the union and said: “We need to come forward with proposals to ensure that there are high-quality training and media at a local level across all media...The time has come for Parliament to take a greater interest in the health of journalism at local level, and particularly in how it might relate to skills and to the health of democracy.”
He referred to the reviews being conducted of the regulations on media ownership by the Office of Fair Trading and by Lord Carter's forthcoming Digital Britain report.
Newspaper publishers have been lobbying for a relaxation of the regulations governing local media mergers. Chief executives of seven of the top regional newspaper companies have formed the Local Media Alliance to negotiate directly with Government.
The NUJ says it does not want public money to go directly to the media companies that have "cut resources to the bone to satisfy shareholders" and is exploring alternative ways of boosting local media.
The union is setting up a Local Media Commission, consisting of industry and union figures and academic experts. It will meet in London on March 30. Labour MP Denis MacShane, a former NUJ president, has called on the Government to convene a newspaper industry summit to “stop the haemorrhage of journalist jobs and the closure on scores of local papers with question marks over the strength and survival of national papers.”
The union says it is engaged in wide-ranging discussions on the future of the industry and later this month will put its case for strengthening local journalism to Burnham when he meets the NUJ Parliamentary Group.
Answering questions in the Commons this week, the Culture Secretary promised to meet the union and said: “We need to come forward with proposals to ensure that there are high-quality training and media at a local level across all media...The time has come for Parliament to take a greater interest in the health of journalism at local level, and particularly in how it might relate to skills and to the health of democracy.”
He referred to the reviews being conducted of the regulations on media ownership by the Office of Fair Trading and by Lord Carter's forthcoming Digital Britain report.
Newspaper publishers have been lobbying for a relaxation of the regulations governing local media mergers. Chief executives of seven of the top regional newspaper companies have formed the Local Media Alliance to negotiate directly with Government.
The NUJ says it does not want public money to go directly to the media companies that have "cut resources to the bone to satisfy shareholders" and is exploring alternative ways of boosting local media.
The union is setting up a Local Media Commission, consisting of industry and union figures and academic experts. It will meet in London on March 30. Labour MP Denis MacShane, a former NUJ president, has called on the Government to convene a newspaper industry summit to “stop the haemorrhage of journalist jobs and the closure on scores of local papers with question marks over the strength and survival of national papers.”
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
'You can have politicians without democracy, but not democracy without independent journalism': MacShane tells Commons
Good quotes from Labour MP Denis MacShane, calling for a more urgent response to the crisis in the newspaper industry in the House of Commons yesterday, when Culture Secretary Andy Burnham was questioned about the high level of newspaper redundancies.
MacShane, a former president of the NUJ, said: "We all have problems with journalists but whereas it is possible to have politicians without democracy, I do not believe that it is possible to have democracy without independent journalism, and print media are essential: digital media could never replace them.
"However, we are seeing a massive erosion of our print media. Journalists are going out of the door regionally, locally and nationally. Lord Carter may be twittering away on the digital problems, but we need more urgent examination now of how we are to keep our print newspapers and trained journalists alive and in business."
Burnham said the Government had no figures for the number of redundancies in the UK newspaper industry but said 57 local newspapers had closed in the past 12 months. He said Lord Carter was considering how to sustain quality news provision across all media at a local level as part of the final “Digital Britain” report.
Conservative MP for Maldon and East Chelmsford John Whittingdale asked Burnham: "Does the Secretary of State accept that in many communities the local newspaper is as important as the local post office, the local shop or the local pub? ... there needs to be urgent action, in particular to relax the competition rules so that markets are judged more broadly in terms of media consumption, and also to encourage local newspapers to take part in consortiums for the provision of regional news, while at the same time perhaps addressing the problem in the broadcast market for news."
A Hansard report of the exchanges can be read here.
MacShane, a former president of the NUJ, said: "We all have problems with journalists but whereas it is possible to have politicians without democracy, I do not believe that it is possible to have democracy without independent journalism, and print media are essential: digital media could never replace them.
"However, we are seeing a massive erosion of our print media. Journalists are going out of the door regionally, locally and nationally. Lord Carter may be twittering away on the digital problems, but we need more urgent examination now of how we are to keep our print newspapers and trained journalists alive and in business."
Burnham said the Government had no figures for the number of redundancies in the UK newspaper industry but said 57 local newspapers had closed in the past 12 months. He said Lord Carter was considering how to sustain quality news provision across all media at a local level as part of the final “Digital Britain” report.
Conservative MP for Maldon and East Chelmsford John Whittingdale asked Burnham: "Does the Secretary of State accept that in many communities the local newspaper is as important as the local post office, the local shop or the local pub? ... there needs to be urgent action, in particular to relax the competition rules so that markets are judged more broadly in terms of media consumption, and also to encourage local newspapers to take part in consortiums for the provision of regional news, while at the same time perhaps addressing the problem in the broadcast market for news."
A Hansard report of the exchanges can be read here.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Digital Britain interim report delay
The BBC says that Communications Minister Lord Carter will not publish interim findings of the Digital Britain report today as planned.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said the report would now appear "before the end of the month".
Media secretary Andy Burnham has said in the Commons that he had asked Lord Carter to look at the local news media as part of his work on developing digital communications in Britain. Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, last week he said: "I would like to signal today that the provision of local news – and the plight of local newspapers - has to rise up the political agenda.
"It is time to develop a sensible strategy that uses the converging nature of journalism to sustain a vital local media."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said the report would now appear "before the end of the month".
Media secretary Andy Burnham has said in the Commons that he had asked Lord Carter to look at the local news media as part of his work on developing digital communications in Britain. Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, last week he said: "I would like to signal today that the provision of local news – and the plight of local newspapers - has to rise up the political agenda.
"It is time to develop a sensible strategy that uses the converging nature of journalism to sustain a vital local media."
Thursday, January 22, 2009
'Plight of local press must rise up political agenda and media jobs should not just be for rich kids' says Culture Secretary
Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said today that the "plight of local newspapers" must rise up the political agenda and called for an end to media jobs only being open to those with rich and well-connected parents.
Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, he said: "I would like to signal today that the provision of local news – and the plight of local newspapers - has to rise up the political agenda.
"It is time to develop a sensible strategy that uses the converging nature of journalism to sustain a vital local media. There is a potential here for new partnerships which might include local media businesses, private sector partners, and communities, and may be – with proper safeguards- the public sector.
"There might even be potential for a national network of local consortia. The prize here is the opportunity to create entry points to the creative industries at the local level by providing apprenticeships, skills training, work experience and jobs.
"We must break a culture where jobs in the media go to the people whose parents have contacts for internships or where they can afford to support people in unpaid positions."
Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, he said: "I would like to signal today that the provision of local news – and the plight of local newspapers - has to rise up the political agenda.
"It is time to develop a sensible strategy that uses the converging nature of journalism to sustain a vital local media. There is a potential here for new partnerships which might include local media businesses, private sector partners, and communities, and may be – with proper safeguards- the public sector.
"There might even be potential for a national network of local consortia. The prize here is the opportunity to create entry points to the creative industries at the local level by providing apprenticeships, skills training, work experience and jobs.
"We must break a culture where jobs in the media go to the people whose parents have contacts for internships or where they can afford to support people in unpaid positions."
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