Toynbee to the rescue of democracy and news

Maybe the campaign for saving newspapers will finally be launched now that Polly Toynbee has rushed to the barricades.

Writing in the Guardian this morning she says that public subsidy may not be the way forward as it hints at control but

"some kind of local trust ownership is the best hope, if no one else can shoulder such losses."

Whilst recognising that some newspapers are probably not worth saving she describes the current situation as an emergency

"Battalions of journalists with local knowledge are being sacked and newspaper expertise lost. Does the government have the imagination and capacity to create an environment where small, locally run independent trusts could flourish?"