Culture and Media Secretary Andy Burnham has given more hints about the impact the upcoming Digital Britain report may have on the local media.
Press Gazette reports that Burnham has claimed Digital Britain report will help "lift the whole quality" of regional news when speaking to reporters at a Broadcasting Press Guild briefing.
He said sustaining local journalism was a "crucial" part of communications minister Stephen Carter's report, which is due out later this month.
Press Gazette quotes Burnham as saying: "What we're very clear about is that we need news at regional, sub-regional and local level beyond the BBC. That is an absolutely firm commitment.
"In the current climate where people want empowerment as citizens and want to challenge and hold people like me to account, it's crucially important that we have quality news beyond the BBC.
"It will allow new thinking and new ways of providing more localised and more high quality news and in doing so you help local newspapers and you overall lift the whole quality of what's offered."
He added: "The crucial thing for me is citizens need content produced to high journalistic standards. The internet in my view will not replace that. Old ways of paying for that are changing. But such is the importance of this in a democracy that a way has to be found to provide it and sustain it."
Burnham refused to go into detail about the contents of Carter's report, but suggested that some of the recommendations would require legislation to be passed.
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