Hundreds of weekly titles are to run the ‘Defend Your Right to Know’ half wrap on October 30, with daily local titles set to follow suit on Monday (November 3), coinciding with the launch of Journalism Matters, the industry’s annual celebration of journalism. Many titles will also run homepage takeovers online.
The joint front page is part of the local news sector’s campaign against government proposals to remove the statutory requirement for alcohol licensing notices to be published in local newspapers.
The plans are part of a wider review of the licensing regime in England and Wales.
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The front page ad explains why the government’s plans risk shrouding local communities in secrecy and urges readers to respond to the licensing reform consultation, which closes at midday next Thursday (November 6).
Newsquest chief executive Henry Faure Walker said: “Local papers are a crucial platform to ensure that local residents can easily see public notices, including alcohol licensing notices, in the highly trusted environment of independent local journalism.
“In addition to running in paper, the notices appear on local news websites and on the Public Notice Portal which has been developed with funding and expertise from the Google News Initiative. The notices are also often covered editorially by local journalists, ensuring even greater reach.
“As we approach the start of this year’s Journalism Matters campaign, our clear message to Keir Starmer is to back local journalism by keeping alcohol licensing notices in local papers.”
Baylis Community Media chief executive and chair of the News Media Association’s Independent Publishers Forum, Jeremy Spooner, added: “Alcohol licensing notices are not red tape; they are a means for local communities to engage meaningfully with plans to sell alcohol in their local area.
“Removing alcohol licensing notices from local papers will do absolutely nothing to help either pubs or papers – instead it will deal a hammer blow to local democratic engagement, just at a time when government is seeking to decentralise power from Westminster.
“There is still time for Ministers to abandon this ill-conceived plan and instead focus on pro-growth interventions that will deliver genuine benefits to the local British businesses which power our local economies.”
NMA chief executive Owen Meredith commented: “Government is rightly striving for growth and seeking to support both the hospitality and media sectors. But many are braced for more difficult news in the upcoming Budget.
“Axing alcohol licensing notices will not unlock growth or address any of the problems the government is trying to solve.
“Instead, it will create a whole lot more. This government should stand up for local communities and show support for pubs and papers by keeping these crucial alcohol licensing notices in local papers.”
