Dear Members

You may be aware that the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee has launched a new inquiry into the future of journalism. The specific aim is to “investigate how the production and consumption of journalism is changing, how journalists can be supported to adapt to those changes and how the profession can become more trusted by—and representative of—the general population.”


The remit of the inquiry is broad and ranges from definitional areas in relation to who practices journalism and how, to areas around revenue and trust. The link to the launch is here https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/communications-committee/news-parliament-2017/journalism-inquiry-launch/

The Network would like to submit written evidence to the inquiry, focussing particularly on local journalism. To that end, we are asking you to forward any points you would like to highlight. The specific questions addressed are listed below. Please address your evidence to those questions and include your contact details and the capacity in which you are commenting. We will include the list of contributors in our evidence. 

As you answer, it might also be worth thinking about how this follows from the Cairncross Inquiry. The Government published its official response to that on January 27. It can be found here. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-cairncross-review-a-sustainable-future-for-journalism/government-response-to-the-cairncross-review-a-sustainable-future-for-journalism#further-work

Of course, you are welcome to submit your evidence independently – but we would ask that you do one or the other for the sake of clarity. We would also ask that your endeavor to keep your response as succinct as possible. Please send all evidence in the first instance to Network chair, Rachel Matthews, [log in to unmask]

The specific questions specified by the inquiry are:

1) How should journalism be defined and what is its value to society? What is the difference between ‘citizen journalism’ and other forms of journalism? 

2) How have digital technologies changed the consumption of journalism? 

3) How can public policy improve media literacy, particularly among those who have a low level of digital literacy? 

4) How have digital technologies changed the production of journalism? Do journalists have access to the training necessary to adapt to the digital world? 

5) What qualifications do professional journalists need? How could public policy better support non-degree routes into journalism? 

6) What are the main challenges for freelance journalists? How could public policy better support them? 

7) Why is the journalism profession not more representative of the population? How could this be addressed?

8) Why has trust in journalism declined? How could it be improved? How can journalists better understand and convey the concerns and priorities of people who do not live in London or other metropolitan hubs? 

9) How can innovation and collaboration help news providers of all types to maintain sustainable business models and adapt what they produce to audience demand? What lessons can be learnt from successful innovations, including in other countries? 

10) Are there any other ways in which public policy could better support journalists and news organisations, now and in the future? Are there examples from other countries from which the Government could learn?

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