"Local press needs level playing field on subsidies"
"The threat to our democracy is severe", says Louise Mensch
By Andrew Pugh Published 26 April 2012
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey could meet with regional newspaper chiefs. Photo: Getty Images
Conservative MP Louise Mensch has called on the Government to launch a review into the local press amid fears its decline poses a “severe” threat to democracy.
At a Westminster debate on the state of the local press Mensch reiterated her calls for the Government to introduce more subsidies and tax advantages for local newspapers to create a “level playing field”.
"The threat to our local democracy is severe,” she said. “It is often only the local press that will hold an incumbent member of Parliament or a local council to account, because only the local press and only local people really care."
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