NS keeps up campaign on ownership rules

The Newspaper Society and Society of Editors met Culture Secretary Andy Burnham yesterday and argued for a relaxation of media ownership rules.
They also called to a halt to publicly-funded competition for local media audiences and advertising revenues. Regional publishers are worried about the growth of local council owned newspaper-style publications which are used as a vehilcle for local authority advertising rather than the local press.
The newspaper industry will give evidence tomorrow at an OFT hearing as part of its review of the local media merger regime.
Last night Johnston Press former chief executive Tim Bowdler told a gathering in a London club to mark his retirement that he felt "wretched" about leaving the company in the middle of a downturn after "14 years of plenty".