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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of local and regional press and media monopolies on the adequacy of levels of varied and balanced reporting.

The Government remains committed to a pluralistic media landscape. A free, strong and plural media plays an essential role in democracy. It is a key source of trustworthy information and plays a vital role in holding power and public institutions to account.

Under the Enterprise Act 2002’s newspaper merger regime, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has a quasi-judicial role and can intervene on public interest grounds to refer a merger to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), subject to a jurisdictional test. These public interest grounds for intervention include plurality of views and plurality of persons with control, within the United Kingdom, or a part of the United Kingdom.

More broadly, the Government is concerned about the sustainability of local journalism and DCMS is developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. We recognise that the industry has faced significant financial challenges for some time, and consolidation and mergers have been a part of the response in order to keep many struggling titles open. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities in a varied and balanced way, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story. More will be announced on the Strategy in due course.