UK Publishing Media manifesto goes out to election candidates
Monday 15 May 2001. UK Publishing Media, an £18bn alliance of newspapers, magazines and books, has today published a manifesto outlining the policies it would like to see adopted by the future government.
The three main political parties are helping to circulate the manifesto to all their prospective parliamentary candidates in the run-up to the General Election.
The publishing industry collectively represents one of the largest investors in the rapidly-expanding information society. It employs around 140,000 people, generates a significant trade surplus from some £2bn in export revenues, and is a leading player in digital content and online services.
The manifesto focuses on six key messages:
"UK plc can be justly proud of its robust publishing industries," the manifesto states. "They are world class - and, in many respects, best in class. Publishers of newspapers, magazines, journals and books are coming of age in a variety of ways which will ensure that their core businesses continue to thrive in the changing market conditions of an information - and e-information - society.
"UK Publishing Media represents an important area of growth for UK plc. We ask any political party seeking to run UK plc to be aware of the diverse contribution our £18bn sector makes within the creative industries and urge that policies are developed which encourage this growth to continue."
Four major associations make up UK Publishing Media: The Publishers Association (representing books and journals), the Newspaper Publishers Association (national newspapers), the Periodical Publishers Association (magazines and business to business media) and The Newspaper Society (regional and local newspapers).
The alliance was formed in January to develop stronger representation to government and to better balance the competing or conflicting interests of other major lobby groups on matters ranging from IT development, regulation and competition issues, freedom to publish, freedom of information, copyright and data protection.
Ends
Further information from:
David Newell, The Newspaper Society, Bloomsbury House 74-77 Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DA Tel: 020 7636 7014
Ronnie Williams OBE, Publishers Association, 1 Kingsway, London WC2B 6XF Tel: (020) 7565 7474
Steve Oram, Newspaper Publishers Association, 34 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9EU Tel: 020 7207 2200
Ian Locks, Periodical Publishers Association, Queens House, 28 Kingsway, London WC2B 6JR Tel: 020 7404 4166
