THIS is an open letter from local media publishers to Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson and Jo Swinson.
We write to you on behalf of local news brands, in print and digital, which reach 40.6 million people a month.
During this election, politicians and candidates from all parties have gone to great lengths to praise local media and its important role in communities.
You have applauded local media’s investigative reporting and powerful campaigns and celebrated its vital role in championing local communities.
And you have acknowledged that local news brands are an essential part of the democratic process by holding power to account and providing high-quality news.
It is widely known that the news media industry, particularly the local media sector, is facing significant challenges caused by changing news consumption habits and tech platforms’ dominance in the digital advertising market.
So you would understand our amazement when election campaign material imitating local newspapers from the three major political parties started to appear through people’s letterboxes.
To discover that local media is under attack by those who had purported to be supporters is extremely worrying.
Why are political parties passing off their fake newspaper propaganda as trusted local news?
Not only are you taking advantage of our highly trusted credentials, you are also actively undermining our business models.
Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but this has to stop.
The News Media Association and its members are calling on all political parties to immediately end this damaging practice which harms and undermines our democratic society.
Furthermore, we urge you all to help ensure the sustainable future of journalism.
At a time when trust in politicians and institutions is so low and fake news on social media is rife, why not instead be properly held to account by the journalists who write for our papers and websites?
Whichever party wins the election, we call on you to implement the recommendations of the Cairncross Report, to move government advertising spend back into trusted news media channels and protect press freedom.
We look forward to your assurances that these measures will be taken promptly and the damaging effects of your campaigning materials will stop with immediate effect.
Newsquest Media Group;Archant;
MNA Media; Reach; Iliffe Media;
JPI Media; News Media Association.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
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