NS president: 'Rein in local councils and BBC'

Newspaper Society president Michael Pelosi, managing director of Northcliffe Media, has called on the Government to rein in local councils and the BBC from competing aggressively with the local press.
Writing in the NS Annual Review, Pelosi says: "Local media markets are highly competitive with wide choice available to advertisers in print and online. The industry has always welcomed fair competition but will resist publicly funded competition, such as the BBC or local authority publications and websites, which competes head to head with independent local media for audiences and revenues.
"Rather than encouraging this activity, the government must rein in local councils and expansionist state broadcasters from competing aggressively with local newspapers, distorting the local market and causing real damage to local businesses."
Pelosi adds: “I have a total belief in the future of independent local newspapers as the backbone of the UK media industry offering the only source of local investigative journalism.”
He hands over the presidency to David Fordham of Iliffe News & Media on 1 July.