Online news sites and news magazines are to be subject to media merger rules for the first time.
Culture Secretary, Lisa Nandy, has outlined plans to broaden the scope of the UK’s media mergers regime.
The proposal woulds allow for more scrutiny into the public interest of deals to acquire UK online news publications and news magazines that might adversely impact accurate reporting, freedom of expression and media plurality.
Currently the Culture Secretary can only intervene in mergers and acquisitions of broadcasters; UK daily and Sunday print newspapers; and local periodical newspapers.
“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,” she explained.
“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.”
The consultation, announced this week, will seek views on expanding the scope of the media mergers regime to include online news publications and weekly or monthly print news publications.
The Government believes the measures would “ensure that the public interest can be safeguarded across these popular sources of news content for people across the UK” and that it could “intervene where necessary to protect the availability of a wide range of accurate and high-quality news, particularly for younger audiences as technology and news habits evolve.”
Subject to the results of the consultation, the proposed changes to the Enterprise Act would be made via secondary legislation.
The powers would not apply retrospectively to historic transactions.
