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www.nuj.org.uk/ campaigns/local- news-maters- round-up/


inquiry into local news provision in the capital and is due to publish its report soon. Evidence supplied by the NUJ said cuts to newsrooms across London by the major newspaper groups had had a severe impact on their ability to fully cover the assembly, local councils, health authorities and other democratic organisations. Not only is this bad for local communities, but it also puts people who want to take up genuine local issues at risk of being silenced by legal action from powerful people who have the money to sue critics. Lone bloggers who take up citizen journalism are as vulnerable – one blogger who has assiduously reported on dealings by Carmarthenshire council is facing having her house repossessed because she took on the council chief executive and has since been sued. Te NUJ stepped in when Kensington and Chelsea council atempted to exclude the media from a cabinet meeting to discuss the disaster. Séamus Dooley, NUJ acting general secretary, said: “Decisions of the council


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should be open to scrutiny and conveyed to the public via independent media. Secrecy is the default position of those who seek to avoid accountability for their actions, and on this occasion there is no room for anything less than complete transparency.” Tat is why the NUJ’s submission to the London Assembly inquiry called for the mayor, Sadiq Khan, to set up a meeting with the capital’s main media organisations to discuss the crisis in the local media in London. Kensington & Chelsea is not the only borough poorly served by its press. In Newsquest’s titles in south London, there are 12 reporters


covering news, sport and leisure across 11 newspapers and associated websites.


In north London, Tindle has just closed seven titles within a week.


Tere are no Newsquest reporters here as they are all based in Watford. Te conclusion is obvious. If we don’t


do anything to stem the collapse of local reporting, we will have a democracy in name only, with no substance because nothing will be reported.


NUJ says the mayor’s office must:


• Set up a meeting with the main media organisations in the capital to discuss conclusions of the Assembly report and NUJ concerns. • Use its influence to improve pay so newspaper and radio journalists can


afford to live in the capital. • Call on the government to make local newspapers community assets, to prevent


newspaper titles closing overnight. • Commission research into the extent to which local newspapers in London


are holding councils and other democratic institutions to account. • Work with the economic commitee to set forward an economic stimulus plan and financial aid for start-up media companies in the capital. • Find funding for bursaries to help low-income and BAME journalist students get a foothold in the profession to encourage a more diverse and representative press in the capital.


Call for more FOI


Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith, is sponsoring a private members bill, Te FOI (Extension) Bill, which would bring providers of social housing, local children safeguarding boards, electoral registration officers, returning officers and housing ombudsmen under Freedom of Information law. Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, said: “Housing associations have actively resisted coming under FOI. Te result is that, when questions are put to them, they can look the other way and refuse to answer. Concern about the safety of their premises aſter the Grenfell fire makes that unsustainable.”


Shakeyjon / Alamy Stock Photo


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