Scottish government plan to remove ads from newspapers is danger to industry, says MSP

The National Union of Journalists in Scotland will meet with politicians today to discuss lay-offs at the Herald&Times Group, following cuts that could see 40 journalists leaving the titles.

Concerns about the Scottish newspaper industry were raised last week in a Scottish parliament debate, in which
Conservative MSP and Shadow Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, Ted Brocklebank, criticised plans being trialled by local government to move its advertising away from newspapers.

After discussions on the state of the newspaper industry with Johnston Press management, Brocklebank found - via SPICe, the parliamentary information service - that online advertising trials were being conducted by local government.

The creation of such an online-only government ad site would pose a dire financial threat to the Scottish press, said Brocklebank. 

The MSP has submitted written questions - which must be responded to within 30 days - about how much the Scottish government currently spends on local newspaper advertising and how much is used on web advertising on local authority and government websites.

"It seems to me that the government is moving away from placing recruitment ads with local and national newspapers, and from statutory and public notices. These are major parts of the income [for newspapers]. This is symptomatic of a much bigger thing," Brocklebank told Journalism.co.uk, adding that the situation is not unique to Scotland.

It is the Scottish parliament's responsibility to protect both the newspaper industry and journalism jobs; and taking public announcement notices away from newspapers would be to the detriment of public service, he added.

Online-only notices will also make the information unavailable to those without internet access, said Brocklebank.

"Among older people, they would naturally look to the newspaper for public notices. If you're asking people to check a website - that's asking an awful lot, particularly if they don't know the information is coming out."

While Brocklebank admitted that government cost-saving is a good thing, it should not be applied in this case, he said.

"Governments are about saving money and it's very difficult to argue with that, but when it comes to statutory notices we think it's another thing. We think the public has a right to that information [via newspapers]," he said, adding that the removal of government job ads from newspapers, as seen with the launch of myjobsscotland, was a different issue.

Brocklebank, who worked in newspapers for five years at the beginning of his career, said he was keen to work with the newspaper groups, other MSPs and the NUJ to fight for the survival of newspapers and, quoting recent Scotsman share prices, described the situation in Scotland is 'catastrophic'.

"We are trying to manage the decline of a very important industry that is hugely important here in Scotland," he said.

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