The role of local newspapers continues to be undervalued while they help maintain an aspect of democracy in that they allow those that are corrupt, to be held to account whether they be politicians or even property developers. An example of this can be seen with Leeds City Council actually making an apology to the Yorkshire Post for refusing to name 4 councillors not paying their council tax. Things like this and the Liverpool Echo's efforts to push for a reopening of the inquest into the Hillsborough disaster represent the importance that the publications have. Stories like this are said to stem from the strong connection that the papers have between them and their community. Without a local paper, things like the scrutiny of the council as a result of spending cuts wouldn't be able to occur as well as just being able to keep up-to-date with news or information in general.
Section 40, a drafted piece of legislation intended to be part of the Crime and Courts Act, could threaten this all though. It entails that 'any newspaper that fails to sign up to a regulator backed by a royal charter could be forced to pay its opponents’ legal costs in libel cases, even if it wins.' What this means is that those criticised by the papers could sue these same papers for that criticism. With the trouble local newspapers are already in with their financial issues, the introduction of this legislation could have a real 'crippling effect' on them. The majority of UK newspapers have signed up to the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), which is capable of fining newspapers up to £1 million. The organisation themselves have made it clear that they will not be signing up to this charter. Local journalists have already expressed their fear for the legal costs that could come to them with this, with it potentially harming their very existence.
What will be very interesting to see is whether or not this drafted legislation will actually be implemented. With those criticised or 'defamed' by the paper actually being able to sue because of this, investigative journalism itself will be threatened. While some might say that the bigger newspapers can just continue it, it has to be understood that it's the local papers who really handle the most cases of it. Things like the reopening of the Hillsborough inquest is representative of this, since without the persistence of the Liverpool Echo, not much progress at all would have been made with the case. So it'll be something to keep an eye on, whether the drafted legislation becomes actual legislation or not.
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