Local and national newspapers are under siege from BBC and web giants
News publishers get a fraction of their fair share of money from ads sold alongside their content when accessed via Facebook or Google
Media matters
LOCAL and national papers play a vital role in our democracy, breaking stories in the public interest. Yet they are under siege from the BBC and web giants.
So we welcome the major Cairncross Review into the future of journalism, which urges action on both.
The BBC’s ever-expanding online news empire has been calamitous for local papers in particular. A broadcaster gifted £4billion a year in public money must not be allowed to crowd out and destroy commercial rivals with coverage far beyond its remit.
Ofcom must take it in hand, as the review recommends.
Meanwhile news publishers get a fraction of their fair share of money from ads sold alongside their content when accessed via Facebook and Google. A new deal is vital, overseen by a regulator.
You would expect The Sun to fight our corner.
But with industry revenues in freefall this is about the survival of journalism itself — and the chilling prospect of a Britain without a diverse media holding the powerful to account.
Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright must take notice . . . and act.
Bye the Left
MILLENNIALS are portrayed as Corbynites determined to smash capitalism in the cause of social justice. We don’t believe it.
In our view they DO want a fairer society. But they are fanatical champions of private enterprise too.
One major new survey claims UK millennials are more relaxed about wealth than anyone else in Europe.
They have grown up seeing tech innovation improving life and commerce at dizzying speed. And they are starting to realise Corbyn’s Labour would cripple startups and wealth creation with its return to 1970s-style nationalisations.
They also see socialism destroying Venezuela — and Corbyn’s cult polluting social media with hate. All of which contributes to his plummeting ratings.
But it won’t necessarily stop Millennials voting Labour if the Tories seem unable to improve their life chances.
That’s why, as Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss rightly says, this Government needs to find answers on housing, pay and much else . . . rapidly.
Fobbed off
THE staggering ease with which The Sun “stole” cars on Pages 4 & 5 should worry anyone with a keyless system.
Vehicle theft soared by 56 per cent during 2017.
MOST read in opinion
It is scandalous Ford, VW and others have taken so long to realise how vulnerable these gizmos are to a legally available relay device.
New key fobs will be safer, they say. But what about millions of older ones?
If they are only unhackable inside a metal-lined bag, the car giants should issue one to every owner.