The Lords communications committee found the printed press was in "crisis", with local papers under particularly "severe" pressure.

It said more money was needed to ensure investigative journalism could survive.

Industry figures suggest daily average national paper circulation fell by 1.26 million copies between 2001 and 2011.

The press has also come under extreme criticism in recent months, as a result of the phone-hacking scandal which led to the closure of the News of the World.

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