Prime Minister sings praises of We Stand Together campaign
THE Prime Minister has backed the M.E.N.’s We Stand Together campaign as an example of the best in local journalism – as she announced new plans to help support regional press in the digital age.
Speaking in Manchester to mark the centenary of the first women getting the vote, Theresa May said local media may need to be protected against the backdrop of changing online news consumption, which has seen big digital players such as Facebook and Google become enormously powerful. As a result she said a review would be carried out next year to ensure a free regional press could be sustained.
Asked about the plans, she cited the M.E.N.’s campaign – launched after last year’s Arena attack to bring together individuals and communities through acts of tolerance and kindness – as one of the reasons local news outlets matter.
“I think the value of local media is shown by the M.E.N. itself with its We Stand Together campaign,” she said.
“That’s a very good example of where good quality local journalism and a good quality local paper can actually be out there supporting their community.” It remains unclear how the government will propose to support the local press, although the Prime Minister said a panel of experts would be brought together to examine how the internet was affecting its ability to stay afloat. Without naming Facebook or Google, she said part of that would look at whether local news was receiving its ‘fair’ share of income from its online journalism, a lot of which is now shared through social media platforms that control what is most likely to be read – while generating huge advertising revenues for themselves at the same time.
Mrs May’s speech also took on social media giants in other respects.
Warning platforms that they now need to ‘take responsibility’ for online abuse suffered on their networks, she said government was looking at stricter regulation.
That will include new guidelines for social media sites, as well as an annual audit of the number of complaints received, offensive content removed and any other action taken to stop abuse.
Mrs May was speaking in Manchester on the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act, which allowed more than eight million women – those over the age of 30 with certain property rights – to vote.
Mrs May was also quizzed on the advice she would now give to her younger self on entering parliament in the 1990s. “I would say: be yourself,” she said. “The way you approach politics may be different to men – the same for business as well.
“But that doesn’t mean you aren’t just as good.
“I would say... don’t feel you have to be a stereotype of a man. Be yourself and believe in what you’re doing.”