A recent cut in local news at a Cheshire radio station has been raised in Parliament by the area's MP.
Sir Nicholas Winterton, MP for Macclesfield, is calling for a debate in Parliament about the impact of the recession on local news production following changes to news provision at the town's 106.9 Silk FM radio station.
Speaking in the House, the Conservative MP said: "My hon. Friend the shadow Leader of the House raised the matter of the news journalists being made redundant by local newspapers and local radio stations.
"Silk FM, which is part of The Local Radio Company plc—in turn, a subsidiary of the Guardian Media Group [sic]—has recently got rid of both its news journalists in Macclesfield. One of them has been made redundant and the other has been transferred to a new centre—which will cover at least three local radio stations—in Burnley, 40 miles from Macclesfield.
"Will she find time for a debate, either on the Floor of the House or in Westminster Hall, on the problems facing local newspapers and local radio stations, and on their failure now to provide proper news coverage, which is affecting the information that is available to people in my constituency, among others?"
The move comes following a number of cuts in news at local radio stations around the country, including a proposal by Silk FM owners The Local Radio Company to "hub" 10 of its stations in the South of England.
