SoE writes to new government

Writing to both the Prime Minister and newly-appointed Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy MP, the letter, co-signed by the Society of Editor's Executive Director Dawn Alford and President Kamal Ahmed, called on the Labour Party to prioritise the needs of the industry following the passage of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act as well as addressing the vacuum in the representation of under-served communities following the decision by Meta to cut funding to the Community News Project last year.

They wrote: “The news media plays a vital role in our society and, we look forward to continuing to work with your department on many issues of mutual concern. Now that the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act has become law, it is vital that the government prioritises the needs of news publishers as the Digital Markets Unit (DMU) becomes operational. In order to help secure a sustainable future for the industry, it is essential that the DMU has the powers that it requires to really level the playing field between publishers and platforms.”

In addition to securing a sustainable future for the media industry as a whole, there remains an urgent need for more support for the local and regional sector, they said.

They added: “Local journalism remains the lifeblood of local democracy and the decision by Meta to cut funding for the Community News Project last year has created a vacuum in the representation of underserved local communities. The importance of the regional news media in training UK journalists cannot be under-estimated and we would welcome the government’s thoughts on both alternative sources of funding to secure the project’s legacy as well as other ways in which the sector can be supported.”

Welcoming the pledge by the party, ahead of the General Election, to ban SLAPPs as part of a six-part plan to shut down the “London laundromat” of dirty money in the UK, the Society said that despite the welcome passage last year of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, which put protections against SLAPPs into law for the first time, there remains an urgent need for primary legislation to tackle the issue. Another area in which they called for support was in the development of AI models.

They concluded: “Finally, as the use of AI develops, its impact on journalism will need to be better understood and we would welcome the government’s support ensuring that the intellectual property of news platforms is protected as this technology develops.”