FREEMAN EMMA HARTLEY MADE A SUBMISSION TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS' FUTURE OF NEWS ENQUIRY

According to the clerk of the House of Lords' Digital and Communications committee, Daniel Schlappa, the Future of News inquiry has been temporarily truncated by the election and should be able to produce a report once the committee has been reconstituted.

 

The inquiry was launched in January 2024 to examine issues around impartiality, trust and the impact of tech platforms and generative AI on news media business models. 

 

Emma, who has been a print journalist for 30 years, said that her submission relates mainly to the local news sector and the way that advertising money has left it, departing for the coffers of Google and Facebook.

 

"24hourlondon has built some advertising software that solves this problem," she said. "It's working and we've been looking since 2020 for investment to allow us to employ a small handful of people. Dean, my cofounder, and I think it will be beneficial in the first instance to the local news sector, beneficial to employment for journalists and also, we think, beneficial for democracy. The tech is sitting there ready to go. We can demo it."

 

She added that it also works for national and international media products but that "the need of local news is greatest" and also that the adware works best - and is most valuable - where there are more people in a small geographical area.

 

Emma, who currently works at the BBC, said that the Digital and Communications committee has been talking about "market failure" in relation to the local news sector, in the sense that it has failed to invest in technology and therefore in itself. "Boy, have we got some wild stories to tell about our search for investment," she said. "It's been a real odyssey...

 

"Now there's been a change of government, though, we're hoping that the new culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, the media and digital minister, Chris Bryant and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, mean what they say about investing in areas of the economy that will supercharge the rest," she said. 

 

"This is because our adware - in addition to potentially remonetising local news - also has vast potential to revivify the high street, as it produces footfall, among other things. The way it works is that it encourages local (and other) businesses to advertise with local newspapers and then rewards them with footfall. So the digital advertising is more valuable than anything currently on the market." 

 

* Emma Hartley can be reached on emma@24hourlondon.co.uk