The NFRN is seeking 100,000 signatures on a government e-petition in a bid to trigger a House of Commons debate, calling for a full market investigation of the news industry.

The entire sector lacks proper regulation, the NFRN claims, and “the phone hacking scandal represents the tip of the iceberg of the unethical practices” that are widespread in the sector.

The government’s online petition service was launched last month in an attempt to make government more transparent, and so far has only had two petitions achieve the magic number of 100,000 that will trigger a commons debate.

In the last 17 years the number of wholesale distributors has reduced from 74 to just two today, providing what the NFRN call an effective monopoly, and leaving retailers with no choice as to who they receive their services from.

If every member of the NFRN signed, this would still not be enough so NFRN national president Kieran McDonnell has called on retailers to “log in and sign this petition… and encourage all of your friends, family, customers and MPs to do so too.”

Clearly, this is an emotive issue for retailers, which is why this week’s poll is about exactly that. Vote here to let us know what you think of the issue, and click here to sign the petition.