Everyone else get their Government petition resonse re Archant?....

[AndyJR 0]

Typical Government statement really...Meaningless.....

• Ask the PM
• …from the PM
• e-Petitions
• Petition Responses

Friday 7 August 2009

Archantnorfolk - epetition response

We received a petition asking:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to save Archant Norfolk jobs.”

Details of Petition:

“Archant Norfolk - publisher of the Eastern Daily Press, Norwich

Evening News, and several weekly titles – is proposing to cut 54

editorial staff from a total of 179 workers. Local National Union of

Journalists(NUJ) members believe that this is a threat not only to the

individuals concerned, but also to the quality of local journalism and

will have a direct, negative impact on the communities these titles

serve. The Archant media group recorded a £22m profit last year. NUJ

members fear that the hard-won trust and competence of the newspapers

is at stake in the plans, which could see photographers, feature staff,

sports writers, sub-editors, chief reporters and editors slashed.

Please sign this petition to urge Archant Norfolk bosses to think again

and to put people before profit margins.”

· Read the petition

· Petitions homepage

Read the Government’s response

Thank you for your e-petition.

This is clearly a worrying time for the workforce,

and the Government stands ready to help those affected get back into

work as quickly as possible.

The present economic climate, coupled with changes

to the way that people choose to access news and other information,

have meant local newspapers are currently facing particularly difficult

times. The Government is taking forward a number of ways to help

support the industry.  Stephen Carter’s Interim Digital Britain Report,

published in January invited the OFT, together with OFCOM, to undertake

a review of the merger regime for newspapers.

The OFT report was published on 16 June 2009

alongside the final Digital Britain Report. To review these reports

please refer to these links:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/mergers_ea02/oft1091.pdf  http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/6216.aspx

OFT concluded that the existing merger framework as

it applies to media in general, and local and regional newspapers in

particular, is sufficiently robust and flexible to take into account

the various considerations that need to be brought to bear, but modest

changes would be advantageous and these are outlined in the OFT report.

Another outcome of these reports is that Government

will invite the Audit Commission to undertake a specific inquiry and

make recommendations concerning the prevalence of paid advertising in

Local Authority information sheets and its impact on local press.

The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport,

held a summit on 28 April at the House of Commons to discuss the

situation facing the local and regional press. Lord Carter spoke at

this event and the NUJ took an active role.

In addition to this, an inquiry was announced on 25

March by the All-Parliamentary Group for Culture, Media & Sport

into the future of local and regional media, under the chairmanship of

John Whittingdale MP.  The committee asked for public opinions on a

range of issues with a deadline of 13 May 2009 and is now reviewing all

the responses received.

To see the statement issued by the all-parliamentary committee on 25 March, please refer to the following website:

http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/culture_media_and_sport/cms090325a.cfm

The Government is taking the difficulty facing the

newspaper industry very seriously, and we remain fully committed to

providing assistance to all concerned.

Further Information

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Tags: Archant Norfolk, Eastern Daily Press, Norwich Evening News

[Panic 0]

Blah blah...Ambiguous Political Words...Blah Blah...Talking about talking about thinking of doing something...Blah Blah