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Local and regional news websites are set to be subject to rules on media mergers for the first time amid plans to modernise competition laws for the digital age.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy, pictured, has announced a consultation on plans to extend the government’s powers to intervene in media mergers to online news sites and news magazines.
The move would widen the scope of the existing merger regime as set out in the Enterprise Act 2002 beyond television, radio and national and local print newspapers.
Ms Nandy said the plans will allow for “greater scrutiny in the public interest of deals to purchase UK online news publications and news magazines that might adversely impact accurate reporting, freedom of expression and media plurality.”
As well as extending the merger regime to news websites, the proposals would also take in weekly and monthly print news publications for the first time.
It would give the Culture Secretary the ability to intervene in a merger which meets certain conditions relating to turnover or share of supply, where they believe the public interest is at stake.
Ms Nandy said: “Since the media mergers regime came into force more than twenty 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.”
In a press release, the DCMS singled out online-only news providers such as the HuffPost or The Independent, as well as the online arms of print publications, that would now be covered by the merger regime.
It said that the aim was “to ensure the legislation is fit for purpose and accurately reflects how people consume news; given daily, local, and Sunday publications are already included.”
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