Local Journalism
Thursday, 12 November 2026
Contributions
Josh Babarinde (Eastbourne) (LD)Liberal Democrat
8. What steps she is taking to support local journalism.
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Online Safety (Ian Murray)Labour
Before I answer the question, I say to the hon. Gentleman that we stand fully with him after recent incidents online, with him having received tens of thousands of disgusting messages and death threats. This Government and everyone else in this House—maybe with the exception of a few Members of Parliament —take a zero-tolerance approach to racism and those kinds of threats. We stand with the hon. Gentleman. Local journalism is vital to society and democracy, including titles such as the Eastbourne Herald and the Eastbourne Reporter in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency. We published the local media action plan to help the sector adjust and thrive in the digital age. Our actions include a local news fund with up to £12 million, a campaign to inspire the next generation of journalists and readers, and an updated plan for journalists’ safety, both here and abroad.
I thank the Minister for his comments. It should not be controversial to say that you do not have to be white to be English. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Much of social media has become a cesspit of abuse and disinformation, but local journalism can be an antidote to such poison. Local journalism in Eastbourne is thriving, with the likes of Adam and Ivana recently joining the Eastbourne Herald and Paul Gibson’s Eastbourne News expanding, too. Will the Minister tell us a little more about what he can do to support local journalism in the fight against disinformation and misinformation?
We have the local news fund and the local news strategy. This is an issue right across the country, and we need to ensure that we have a thriving local journalistic community so that we can get those stories to people and so that the news is trusted and trustworthy. The BBC obviously plays a key role in that, and the BBC charter process is investigating how it can support that infrastructure and ecosystem across the country. I would be very happy to work with the hon. Gentleman in sharing his experience to see what we can do to help his local area and areas across all regions across the country. I want to emphasise from the Dispatch Box, too, that you do not have to be white to be English—the hon. Gentleman is right to say that—although you do have to be tight to be Scottish. [ Laughter. ]
Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)Labour (Co-op)
From Scotland to Harlow, Mr Speaker. Online news sites like Your Harlow, which has provided thousands of news articles to Harlow residents across the years, rely on people visiting their site for advertising revenue, but there is a danger posed by AI summaries, particularly when some of those summaries are wrong. What thought has the Minister given to the impact of AI summaries on local news sources like Your Harlow?
The Government are actively looking at this issue, because we know from experience—we always use the Southport example—that when there are incidents or crisis moments across the country, people turn to their local news outlets and the BBC to find the truth because they are sceptical of what they are reading. In the meantime, anyone who is reading these AI summaries online should double-check with their local newspapers and the sources they are given to ensure that that information is true. What happens, of course, is the old adage: a lie is halfway around the world before the truth has got its boots on. That happens much faster now with social media. I am delighted that my hon. Friend has broken his habit in the House by at least mentioning Harlow in his question.
Mr SpeakerSpeaker
I call the shadow Minister.
James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)Conservative
Vibrant local news is essential to our democracy, but plans for the Government or a state quango to pick what is a source of trustworthy news content and is prioritised over other publishers risk undermining that sector. Does the Minister agree that the approach of picking winners, with the state deciding what can be trusted, is a dangerous course and should be abandoned?
I disagree with the hon. Gentleman on this basis: the media Green Paper to which I think he is referring is trying to deal with the issue of misinformation and disinformation and to answer the exam question posed by the hon. Member for Eastbourne (Josh Babarinde) about how we promote the local trustworthy news that the public are crying out for and have a massive thirst for. It is an ecosystem that we have to try to support. The Green Paper is rightly posing these questions, and we will have the answers for the White Paper shortly.
The Minister has not given an answer and has declined to rule out going ahead with the proposals in the Green Paper for the state or a quango to decide what is trustworthy news. Will he at least rule out that only news publishers that sign up to an approved regulator under the press recognition system could qualify?
These are questions that have been asked in the Green Paper. The White Paper will be published soon, and I am not going to pre-empt it at this Dispatch Box. The hon. Gentleman will just have to contain himself until then. The big, fundamental issue here is how we deal with the misinformation and disinformation in this country that is undermining our democracy and society and doing the kinds of things that have been experienced by the hon. Member for Eastbourne. Those are the kinds of questions the Green Paper is trying to address. It is in all our interests—the interests of every Member in this House—to get misinformation and disinformation out of our ecosystem so that we can have a thriving democracy and thriving communities.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5436634.