The government has unveiled a new strategy aimed at supporting local journalism and ensuring communities have access to sources of trusted and reliable news.
Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, is set to outline the Local Media Strategy at the Society of Editors Future of News Conference, highlighting initiatives to help local news organisations innovate digitally, support community media and tackle areas where local reporting has all but disappeared.
The strategy comes as local publishers face mounting pressure. Algorithms from non-UK big tech companies such as Google increasingly determine what readers see online, often limiting visibility for regional titles.
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At the same time, the BBC’s expansion into local news markets risks overshadowing commercial publishers, with publicly funded content frequently prioritised by search engines over other outlets.
Key measures in the strategy include:
- Local News Fund: Grants for print, online, radio, and TV outlets to support digital innovation and sustainable business models.
- News deserts: Support for areas lacking dedicated local coverage, including initiatives to revive dormant titles or expand existing publishers.
- Community radio: Funding will double to £1 million a year over the next three years, supporting nearly 400 stations and encouraging new services in underserved areas.
- Schools campaign: A North West England programme to inspire young people from diverse backgrounds to consider careers in local journalism.
- Digital access in schools: Ensuring pupils and teachers in state schools can access a wide range of local and national news through the Newspapers for Schools digital library.
- Regional Media Forum: A West of England forum to strengthen engagement between journalists and local public services, with lessons rolled out nationally.
- Review of statutory notices: Examining whether council notices, planning decisions, and other statutory information could be published more effectively online.
- Government advertising: Increasing the use of local and hyperlocal media in public campaigns while supporting local outlets to compete commercially.
Announcing the strategy, Lisa Nandy will say: “This strategy will provide unprecedented funding for local media outlets to invest in innovation and infrastructure, almost tripling the size of funding for community radio, harnessing the power of local and national government and giving more young people access to high quality journalism and the opportunity to pursue careers in it.
“Because local media was and always has been a ladder of opportunity to help new voices break into journalism. This is not a nice to have. It is essential to a cohesive country. Our debate is too narrow and too small. We will change that. The strategy we publish today is the start – not the end point – and we recognise there is more to do. But it is the start of a new approach to local media, which nurtures it and places it directly at the heart of our government’s support for our country. Because the future of news is local.”
Sarah Lester, editor-in-chief of the Manchester Evening News, welcomed the announcement but urged further action to secure the sector’s future.
“This is a positive start and it is pleasing to see the recognition of the vital role local and regional journalism plays in communities across the UK,” she said.
“We are grateful to see Lisa Nandy backing local and regional media and putting forward positive ideas to improve and strengthen these vital news outlets.
“But there is much more work to be done. We need an honest discussion about the structural challenges facing local publishers, including the unchecked power of big tech to dictate where readers get their news.”
