Protecting the Press

NOT surprisingly, the coronavirus crisis has made people hungrier than ever for reliable news.

Indeed, access to trusted information has seldom been more vital in saving lives.

Unfortunately, the lockdown has dealt a catastrophic blow to local newspapers fighting to fulfil this important role.

A sector already in sad decline because of the expansion of the BBC and internet is being strangled. Advertisers, whose own businesses have been shuttered, have stopped virtually all spending.

Countless stores that sell local papers have closed to protect staff. Readers, confined indoors, can’t pick up a copy.

Many publications – some in existence for more than a century – may not survive.

That would be disastrous. It would snuff out the most effective source people have of finding out about outbreaks in their community, measures taken to tackle them and where they can seek help.

What’s more, it would cause incalculable damage to local democracy. Politicians, police and health services would be far less likely to be held to account and corruption and malpractice more likely to flourish. So what can be done? The Government should extend the business rates cut. It’s bizarre the lifeboat should save betting shops, while news titles go bust.

And as ministers look beyond the current crisis to deal with the social problems and ensure business recovers, they must embark on a major campaign of public information.

What better way to do this and protect news providers, local and national, than by making cash available for vital Government advertising?

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has impressed with his imaginative contagion response. By safeguarding this crucial industry, he’d win even more plaudits.