Victoria raised the question during an Urgent Statement in the House of Commons Chamber by the Secretary of State on the BBC Charter White Paper, 'A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction'.
Victoria said,
“I am pleased that the Secretary of State agrees with me that local newspapers are vitally important to our communities, and to hear of his efforts to encourage the BBC to support such publications.
We are lucky to have six excellent local papers here in Louth & Horncastle and I will continue to support them in providing their service.”
The full text of Victoria’s question can be found below.
Victoria Atkins MP
My constituency has six local newspapers, which are vital in providing news to the local community. We all know the pressures faced by local newspapers across the country, particularly as more and more of us get our news online. How will the new charter help to ensure that the BBC’s very successful website does not have the unintended consequence of driving people away from local newspapers and their websites?
The Rt Hon John Whittingdale MP
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that, because I agree with her that it is tremendously important. Local newspapers play a vital role in sustaining local democracy and will become more important as more powers are passed down to devolved Administrations and local government. For quite some time I have therefore sought to encourage the BBC to support local newspapers, rather than undermine them, as it has occasionally been accused of doing. I am delighted that an agreement has been reached in principle between the BBC and the News Media Association, which represents the local press, whereby the BBC has now agreed to fund a reporting service to cover local authorities and public services. It intends to fund 150 journalists, who will be employed by qualifying local organisations, not by the BBC. In that way, the BBC will be obtaining greater content on what is going on in local authorities and, in doing so, will be supporting local newspapers, which we hope will help to ensure that they continue to provide their service