The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and ITV host Susanna Reid have both joined the #buyapaper campaign encouraging the public to support local titles.

Writing on Twitter, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden MP, called on the public to support public interest journalism and #buyapaper. Dowden’s backing comes as DCMS looks to tackle misinformation online and he set out tips for the public on the importance of checking facts ahead of sharing content more widely.

Susanna Reid, host of ITV’s Good Morning Britain, has also lent her backing to the campaign. Writing a column in the Daily Mail encouraging the public to follow government guidelines and stay at home, she used the hashtag on Twitter to promote the work of the print media.  

The #buyapaper campaign, originally launched in January 2019 by JPIMedia, has seen journalists from national, regional and local newspapers, magazines and broadcasting, encourage readers to support struggling print titles during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Other titles have also continued to promote the campaign including The Times, Daily Mail and Daily Express, Edinburgh Evening News, Ely Standard, Kent Online, Northampton Chronicle, Peterborough Telegraph, Scarborough News, West Highland Free Press and Yorkshire Post.

A gallery of #buyapaper tweets appears below.