HOUSING Secretary Robert Jenrick has called on people to buy local newspapers like the Hereford Times to help them make it through the Covid-19 shutdown.

Speaking at the Downing Street briefing yesterday (Wednesday), Mr Jenrick said much of the front-line effort in the fight against coronavirus “is being co-ordinated in our own communities”.

He said: “A free country needs a free press and the national, the regional and the local newspapers of our country are under significant financial pressure.”

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Mr Jenrick added: “I would like to echo the words of the Culture Secretary (Oliver Dowden) recently in encouraging everyone who can to buy a newspaper.”

The Housing Secretary’s defence of the press stands in contrast to Downing Street’s criticism of the media for its coverage of the coronavirus crisis.

Across the industry, many titles have been forced to furlough staff and reduce pay due to advertising cuts as businesses retrench in a bid to survive the lockdown.

Despite its apparent hostility to some quarters of the media, last month the Government revealed it had set up a three-month advertising partnership across the newspaper industry to push its “stay at home” message.

The deal was set up in partnership with Newsworks, a marketing body for national newspapers, which hoped to help provide a lifeline to struggling outlets.