Support for our local press during covid-19

That this House calls on the Government to introduce a package of support to aid local newspapers who are facing an unprecedented crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic; recognises the key role local newspapers play in our communities; acknowledges that despite this important service, and the hard work of staff at these papers, the lockdown has resulted in a significant fall in sales revenue as we are less able to visit shops and purchase a paper, resulting in a fall in sales revenue of 35 per cent in some cases; understands that this fall in sales is coupled with a slump in advertising revenue of up to 75 per cent; welcomes Scottish and UK Government advertising in local and national newspapers to share important public health information which has channelled much needed funding into news titles at this difficult time, but understands this alone is insufficient; supports the requests made by the Scottish Newspaper Society for Government assistance, including a transfer of advertising spending from social media to news publishing, an emergency fund to be made available to media companies, as well as explicit instructions to banks to make lending available to legitimate and trusted news operations who continue to invest in a reliable regulatory system; and urges the Government to urgently consider these proposals and do all it can to ensure the survival of local papers which are so essential to the social fabric of our communities.