Commons motion backs Manchester journalists
11 March 2009
Mark Hunter, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheadle, has put down the following Early Day Motion in the House of Commons:
That this House; notes with regret and concern the decision by the Guardian Media Group to announce further job losses at the Manchester Evening News and within its weekly newspaper group; believes that the proposed cuts in editorial, advertising, distribution and IT can only be damaging to the future prospects of all the titles concerned; recognises that many people have worked extremely hard over the years to build these newspapers; that local newspapers have an absolutely central role at the heart of local communities; recognises an unwelcome trend to centralise their services and people; deplores the move to close down completely all their individual weekly newspaper offices which currently serve the Greater Manchester conurbation; understands that this could be the first time in its proud history that the MEN implements compulsory redundancies; upholds strongly the values of quality, independent journalism relevant to our local communities; believes that the founding fathers of the Guardian – particularly CP Scott – would be appalled and saddened by these developments and calls upon Guardian Media Group to re-think its proposals.
Follow this link for the latest list of MPs who have signed the motion
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