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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to support independent local (a) print, (b) online and (c) broadcast news providers during the covid-19 outbreak.

To support the vital role of local news outlets, the government has clarified that all journalists including broadcast journalists, and other ancillary staff, are ‘key workers’ for the purposes of access to childcare and educational places. The government also issued guidance to local authorities on the importance of newspaper delivery, which has been critical to the continued dissemination of public interest news.

News publishers in particular are facing existential pressures due to the steep drop in advertising revenues resulting from the impacts of Covid-19. The government has therefore sought to maximise advertising opportunities for the sector, implementing a public information campaign to ensure the distribution of authoritative, up-to-date information about Covid-19, while also alleviating publishers’ financial pressures.. The current partnership brings together over 600 titles across the UK, of which the vast majority are local papers.

For online media outlets, the government has taken steps to ensure the use of ‘keyword blocklisting’ technology is not inadvertently damaging news publishers’ online advertising revenues for Covid-19 related stories. Additionally, the Chancellor brought forward the commencement of zero-rating of VAT on e-newspapers in order to bring savings to readers and support digital publishing.

We are in regular dialogue with stakeholders about ensuring the support offered to local news outlets is as effective as it can be. Ministers are also engaged with national and local broadcasters on a regular basis to understand the impacts of Covid-19 on their day to day operations, including broadcast news provision.