Dowden: Tech Giants Anti-Competitive Practices Have Had Devastating Effects Upon Newspaper Industry
Government is determined to tackle the devastating effects on the newspaper industry of the tech giants anti-competitive practices, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said today.
Speaking to RESET 2021, a virtual event from the Advertising Association, the IPA and ISBA, the Culture Secretary said it was time to even the playing field and correct the fundamental imbalance between publishers, advertisers and the online platforms.
Mr Dowden said the rise of online advertising had created a number of challenges. He said: There are growing concerns about brand safety, about transparency and accountability; around content standards, and harm.
Leading publishers of regional news have have written to the Transport Secretary after a new threat to public notices emerged in the form of a Government-commissioned report recommending the abolition of the requirement for transport notices to be advertised in local newspapers. The News Media Association (NMA), which represents the industry, has written to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. The new threat to public notices comes after Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said Government understood the role public notices play in local newspapers and was “working closely to ensure that we protect that.” The local media sector and scores of MPs have expressed grave concerns over proposals to remove planning notices from local papers, which would leave millions of people disenfranchised, undermining local democracy.
CMA: Government Must Move Quickly On Legislation To Regulate The Tech Platforms newsmediauk.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newsmediauk.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dowden: Government Working To Protect Public Notices Revenues In Local Newspapers
Government is aware of the vital role public notices play in local newspapers revenues and is “working closely to ensure that we protect that,” Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has said this morning.
The News Media Association is campaigning to keep planning notices in local papers warning that removing the statutory requirement on local authorities to publish planning notices in local newspapers will damage local democracy and disenfranchise millions of people who rely on newspapers for the information.
Additionally, revenue from public notices is an important stream of income for many local and regional publishers and the withdrawal of public notices from print newspapers could even prove fatal to financially fragile local publishers.