Philip John, one of the Lichfield Blog team, highlights remarks made by Derek Wyatt, Labour MP for Sittingbourne & Sheppey, during a recent parliamentary debate:
[He] made reference to the The Guardian’s status as the subsidiary of a charity, the Scott Trust as opposed to its rivals who are for-profit ventures. He went on to propose the model for local media as an answer, whether in part of whole, to the trouble facing newspapers.
Wyatt said, “There will be a Guardian alternative locally for groups of people wanting to set up not for profit newspapers often online but need funding.” The suggestion here is that at a local level the answer might be the Guardian-style of ownership whereby the media is part of a charitable trust or social enterprise, and a not-for-profit operation.
PS. Happy Birthday to the Lichfield Blog – it’s one year old today!