Tories could allow local newspapers to run TV and radio stations, says shadow culture minister

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Local newspapers could be allowed to run television and radio stations under a Conservative government, said the shadow culture minister at an event last night.

Speaking at the 'Future of Digital Britain' debate at the London School of Economics, Jeremy Hunt MP said that there was a need to review cross-media ownership rules to fill gaps in news provision.

Laws currently preventing local newspapers from owning local radio and television stations should be re-examined in the context of the internet age, according to Hunt.

"The argument I am making is that the media industry has become the technology industry," he said, arguing that regulation in technology 'is actually far less secure than in traditional industries'.

Allowing local newspapers to spread the cost of journalism across several platforms would be a way to bring down the costs of local television, he added.

National newspapers

A Conservative government would also allow more flexibility for national paper development of broadband television, which would not be regulated in the same way as traditional television channels, he said.

"We will have broadband television in our living rooms in the next couple of years (...) We won't be able to regulate Sun TV in the same way that we regulate ITV. I don't think we could do that or would want to do that. It would put newspapers out of business if we tried."

He added that newspapers are in serious trouble and need to develop new models.

"I suspect they will develop a subscription model where readers pay to view content in print, on their Kindle, mobile or online," said Hunt.

"Probably everyone will end up doing something similar to what Rupert Murdoch is doing, which is trying to find a way of preventing people being able to access content for free. I think that is the long term model."

John Stevens is a postgraduate newspaper journalism student at City University. He blogs at

http://bit.ly/on-the-fly .