A motion attacking the regional newspaper publisher Newsquest/Gannett for its cutbacks has been tabled for discussion at tomorrow’s (Friday’s) London Assembly.
The motion, which criticises job cuts at a range of London weekly titles, calls on the mayor, Boris Johnson, to write to Newsquest’s chief executive to express “further concern over the relocation of local media jobs outside London.”
Johnson has been supportive of a previous motion that decried staffing changes and restructuring at Newsquest. In June, he and five other Conservative MPs backed striking Newsquest journalists over their demands for higher wages and proper working conditions.
The motion has been proposed by Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the assembly’s Liberal Democrats, and seconded by a Labour member, Val Shawcross. It states:
“This assembly notes the mayor’s supportive response to its previous motion expressing concern over staffing changes and restructuring at the Newsquest group, whose publications include:
The Croydon Guardian, Sutton Guardian, Epsom Guardian, Wimbledon Guardian, Wandsworth Guardian, Balham and Tooting Guardian, Mitcham and Morden Guardian, Kingston Guardian, Surrey Comet, Elmbridge Comet, Richmond & Twickenham Times, and The News Shopper - for Lewisham, Greenwich, Bexley and Bromley.
This assembly agrees with the mayor that local newspapers are part of the fabric of London’s local communities and play a vital role in informing people about grassroots subjects that matter to Londoners.
This assembly believes that local newspapers continue to be a key source of information for many of London’s diverse communities, and perform a powerful public scrutiny function by holding local government and other organisations to account for their actions.
This assembly is concerned by the recent announcement that Newsquest is to move eight posts on its titles in south London to its production centres in Weymouth and Newport – a move which the assembly believes will threaten the quality and long term survival of local papers in south London.”
It concludes by calling on Johnson to write Newsquest’s CEO, Henry Faure Walker, and urging the assembly’s economy committee to consider launching an investigation into the contribution of local newspapers to London’s economy and into their role in connecting local communities and businesses.
Newsquest’s parent company is the largest newspaper publisher in the United States, Gannett.
