Culture Secretary looks at adding online news platforms to media plurality rules

Lisa Nandy said she wants to make changes for the ‘digital age’.

Website versions of print publications, online news providers and weekly or monthly publications could be added to media plurality rules (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Archive)

The Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has announced she will look at adding online news platforms and weekly publications to the current rules on media plurality.

Currently, the Secretary of State has the power to intervene if there are concerns about media freedom and freedom of expression when there are media mergers of local, daily and Sunday newspapers as well as broadcasters.

Ms Nandy has begun a consultation into whether weekly or monthly publications – such as The Economist or Prospect – should be added to the legislation.

It also proposes that UK online providers such as HuffPost or The Independent or the website version of print publications if being merged, could trigger “public interest” considerations under the scope of the Enterprise Act 2002.

This follows influential weekly politics and culture magazine The Spectator being bought by Sir Paul Marshall, a hedge fund magnate and co-owner of GB News.

Ms Nandy said: “Since the media mergers regime came into force more than 20 years ago, our laws haven’t kept pace with technology and evolving news consumption habits.

“As people increasingly get their news online, we need a regime that is future-proof. That’s why I’m proposing further reforms to protect the availability of accurate, high-quality news from a variety of sources, ensuring media freedom continues to be upheld.”

There has also been controversy about the sale of Telegraph Media Group after its buyout by an Abu Dhabi-backed fund was blocked by the Government.

RedBird IMI took control of the media business when it was put on the market last year in order to help previous owners, the Barclay family, repay heavy debts to lenders at Lloyds Bank.

The investment fund majority-owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, vice president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and owner of Manchester City Football Club, has been trying to find a new buyer.

The proposed changes to the Enterprise Act would be made via secondary legislation, and “would not apply retrospectively to historic transactions”, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said.

It also said that the consultation is looking at making the merger rules part of the public interest and foreign state regimes.

The proposed changes come following broadcasting watchdog Ofcom’s review, which recommended the “Secretary of State should broaden the scope of the public interest considerations beyond print newspapers and broadcasters to capture a broader range of news creators”.

The DCMS said: “We are of the view that expanding the scope of the regime to capture any entity that creates news, as Ofcom has suggested, could potentially bring into scope a very large number of companies, posing a disproportionate burden on business, as well as on government and regulators, and may threaten the sustainability of an already struggling media landscape.

“Our proposed amendments aim therefore to ensure a proportionate approach that reflects the way in which news is consumed in the modern day, whilst avoiding bringing into scope additional entities that are less likely to pose public interest concerns.”