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You are invited to the following event - please register early - details below: Goldsmiths Centre for the Study of Global Media and Democracy In association with the National Union of Journalists DEMOCRACY WITHOUT JOURNALISTS – THE CRISIS IN LOCAL NEWS A pre-election meeting in Parliament to highlight local journalism and democracy Wednesday 17 March, 2-4pm, Thatcher Room, Portcullis House, Westminster, Bridge Street, London. SW1P 3JA. (www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/colmap.pdf) Speakers include: Jeremy Dear (General Secretary of the NUJ); Steve Hewlett (broadcasterR4 The Media Show and Guardian columnist), Professor James Curran, (Director of Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre), Natalie Fenton (editor of New Media, Old News), Angela Phillips (founder, East London Lines), Professor Stephen Coleman (University of Leeds). Local news media are in crisis. The Newspaper Society notes that 101 local newspapers closed down between January and August 2009 while ITV has said it can no longer afford to provide a regional news service. Buffeted by the recession and the impact of the internet, the current business model for local news is facing collapse and, perhaps with it, the pursuit of local news that is in the public interest. The government has responded by setting up pilot Independently Funded News Consortia (IFNC) while the Conservatives have promised to scrap the pilots and to relax local cross-media ownership rules to safeguard the provision of local journalism. This event aims to make the future of local news an election headline. It will highlight the importance of robust news coverage for local democracy and propose concrete steps to halt the decline in local news, such as those contained in the NUJ’s economic stimulus plan to reinvigorate local journalism. , such as those contained in the NUJ’s economic stimulus plan that aims to reinvigorate local journalism. Speakers will address: • why politicians and the public should care about local news • the significance of local news for meaningful local democracy • the viability of the Independently Funded News Consortia scheme • the need for public policy action to ensure a future for local news • possibilities for new initiatives in the provision of local news Attendance is free but places are strictly limited. Please contact Joanna Redden ([log in to unmask]) to reserve a place.