NUJ calls for inquiry into future of local newspapers
Union raises issue with government amid concern over ability of local press to cover general election
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has written to the culture and digital economy minister, Ed Vaizey, calling for an inquiry into the future of local newspapers amid concern over their ability to cover the general election.
In a letter to the minister, Michelle Stanistreet, the NUJ’s general secretary, wrote: “With the general election looming, there is genuine concern that many newspapers no longer have the capacity to provide the coverage necessary in order to inform and enthuse communities about local and national politics and issues of importance in their areas.”
She said: “We need newspapers to ensure democratic scrutiny, accountability and to encourage informed and active citizenship. My concern is that we are in danger of reaching a tipping point where local journalism will not be able to fulfil this role. Reporters say they are too busy to cover council meetings and courts, [which] should be bread and butter functions of any local paper. Major newspapers such as the Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News and the Express & Star no longer employ staff lobby correspondents.”
Stanistreet told the meeting that the past week had seen 25 jobs cut at the Oxford Mail, around 8 jobs cut at Newsquest titles in Blackburn, 45 jobs lost following Johnston Press’s merger of the Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and Edinburgh Evening News, and cuts to staff photographers across Johnston Press. These cuts have come after years of steady job losses across the industry.
This article shows how newspapers are becoming concerned with their ability to continue to report news, to an extent that they fear being unable to report the upcoming elections due to a lack of journalists willing to write for newspapers on low pay and people preferring to get their news online.
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