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NUJ General Secretary, Jeremy Dear, and MPs from
the union's lobbying group have protested over plans
to axe the Newspaper Registration Service.
Jeremy was joined by the Scottish Nationalist MP
for Moray, Angus Robertson, in delivering a letter
to the Department of Trade and Industry Minister,
Stephen Timms calling on the Government to reverse
a decision which could lead to the closure of newspapers
and a "serious erosion of press freedom".
They also noted that the plans would adversely
affect access to newspapers in Scotland and threaten
jobs in the industry.
A delegation of MPs and NUJ officials, including
the General Secretary and MPs Austin Mitchell and
Angus Robertson, called on Mr Timms to intervene
to protect the NRS.
The service facilitates access to a variety of
news and information sources and is particularly
important in Scotland.
Further protests to Royal Mail management will
follow.
Mr Robertson claimed the move would adversely affect
Scottish newspaper readers more than others. He
said 12 per cent of those using the service were
in the north of Scotland alone.
Jeremy Dear said: "This service is relied
on by dozens of regional and local newspapers and
small-scale, independent titles. Many such titles
have small distribution budgets and could not afford
the extra cost of postage. That may mean jobs will
go and some smaller titles may be forced to close.
Such a move represents a serious threat to press
freedom.
"With so many local newsagents closing and
with media being increasingly dominated by fewer
and fewer big companies Government have a duty to
promote access to a variety of different voices.
"We put our case firmly to the Minister and
he has promised to arrange a further meeting with
Royal Mail management to enable us to raise our
concerns. We are asking for the Government, as the
owners of the Royal Mail to act in defence of media
freedom and jobs".
The delegation also called for Royal Mail managers
to ensure access for small-scale, independent newspapers
on night flights to Scotland.
The Scottish TUC has already backed an NUJ motion
calling for the decision to be reversed.
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