We may have to file this in the “it’ll never work” drawer: the National Union of Journalists has proposed that anyone who buys “quality media” should be given tax credits to offset the collapse in local media across the UK. NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear has released an “economic stimulus” plan for local media, essentially a policy wishlist ahead of the final Digital Britain report expected next month, which says that “tax credits should be targeted, via subscription-based models, at people buying newspapers that meet specified criteria around original journalism.”

It also wants tax breaks for local media that fit the union’s “quality” criteria; to comply companies must commit to a minimum level of editorial resource spending; a minimum staff level; a minimum ratio of original content as well as promise to keep offices open, not shut down titles and even guarantee pagination levels.

Ironically, while newspapers spend attacking the BBC’s dominance and funding, the NUJ is a staunch supporter of the licence fee and uses the document to call for “hard and fast commitment” it will remain and won’t be shared among other PSBs. The union also calls for a tax on “commercial operators who benefit from quality public service content...” but don’t contribute to content creation—he doesn’t name names, but we assume Dear is referring to Google (NSDQ: GOOG).