Comments on: Letter to Govt. pt3: Should councils publish newspapers? A response to the Media Committee

By: How can the government save journalism? | Online Journalism Blog

How can the government save journalism? | Online Journalism Blog — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:20:51 +0000

[...] of public data (I’ve made this case before – it’s about helping create efficiencies for anyone reporting on public bodies). He seemed to [...]

By: JEEcamp 2009: New business models and local democracy « Michael Haddon

JEEcamp 2009: New business models and local democracy « Michael Haddon — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:09:57 +0000

[...] second panel tackled the role of local authorities in regional journalism and specifically the prevelance of council-published newspapers. Andy Dickinson, lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, said “I think it is a [...]

By: James Goffin

James Goffin — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:33:59 +0000

@Edward Welsh: The “evidence” that backs up your campaign says that “the more informed residents feel, the more popular the council”. You could argue that shows propaganda works.
Clear branding of council services is one thing, setting up rival businesses is another. Given that some of the London boroughs are spending over £50k on publications, I’d be interested to see how much of this work is being out to tender.

@David Walker: You say there’s little data to test the situation but go on to imply that everything will be ok because of the cut and thrust of local politics and that the kindly uncles at the regulators are looking on. I’d hope for a little more cynicism from the Audit Commission.

@Rick Waghorn: South Norfolk Council *do* post all planning applications online, though searchable by parish rather than postcode (and PlanningAlerts.com provides a more accessible alternative). Many journalists use rather than object to these services, but they are very different from putting out a fully-fledged paper as happens in some areas. Would you be as blase if Norwich City Council decided it would be a good public service to put out a free Canaries newsletter to every home?

By: Part 4: "How to fund quality local journalism" | Online Journalism Blog

Part 4: "How to fund quality local journalism" | Online Journalism Blog — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:23:57 +0000

[...] That might not happen. If it doesn’t, they will die off, and the future of quality local journalism will take a huge – but not definitive – blow. Then the future lies with new initiatives and the local communities themselves – passionate and entrepreneurial people, only some of whom will be journalists. What about local council initiatives to publish newspapers and local information? That’s not the way to go – covered in Part 3. [...]

By: Crowdsourcing thoughts on council newspapers: #councilpapers | Online Journalism Blog

Sat, 02 May 2009 20:25:41 +0000

[...] previous two posts on the role of local authorities in regional news sparked a bit of crowdsourcing on Twitter: [...]

By: Marc Schmid

Marc Schmid — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:09:41 +0000

Sensible Councils recognise the difference between a Council newspaper and the local independent newspaper. My problem with this debate is that all councils are being tarred by the actions of a few who have gone beyond simply informing citizens to instead realising the economic benefit of using their publications to income generate. As a head of comms my team runs a newspaper and we have some ex-journalists who contribute to it. However, it never claims to be anything other than a council newspaper. It allows us to focus on low level news about services that would never make it into the local paper but we ensure it is well written so people read it. If we just produced leaflets for every service this would cost a fortune and would not get to every household. We never seek to draw anything away from the local paper who we still offer exclusives to and post our public noticed with despite the cost. The primary reason being that we regard our local paper as any other local employer and as such have no interest in seeing them closing and the local staff being thrown on to the dole. Councils need to recognise that whether they like it or not the local newspaper is an important employer and a healthy check on what the council does and more importantly on any abuses that may ever occur. I am a taxpayer too and would hope that any mistakes by my council are reported by the local paper in my area, perhaps some people have forgotten that.

By: Ben Hobson

Ben Hobson — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:42:20 +0000

I think newspapers need to stop concentrating their energy on preventing more competition, and focus on what they do best – journalism. Good journalism will always sell, and I believe the public sees council newspapers for what they are – propaganda. Here’s Lancashire County Council’s offering (pdf)
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/corporate/vision/downloads/apr09web.pdf
I feel there is a mentality in newspapers now that we must protect ourselves from further competition, but this is just wasted energy. If local newspapers have a reputation for good journalism, local councils producing their own newspapers will not alter this. Newspapers should stick to what they do best.

By: RickWaghorn

RickWaghorn — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:39:32 +0000

Having watched something of a bitch-fest unfold between the LGA and the Soc of Editors unfold at the Local Media Summit on Tuesday, I think there is a danger that such local council newspapers that there are could be something of a red herring in this whole debate…

Yes, some over step the mark. Was Kent CC TV money well spent? Probably not.

But if any of us wear our local council tax-payer hat, why should I subsidise the local papers twice to publish local planning applications that Shirkey-esque, MySociety, web logic tells us should be free to view online…

Why should S Norfolk District Council not add an appropriate #NR14 tag to a planning application and let whoever ‘catch’ it out there on the web as opposed to paying for that advert to be placed in the back pages of the Beccles & Bungay Journal; and then for me to pay a second time for the privilege of seeing it when I cough 60p per week at the newsagents…

The fact that the Newspaper Soc et al are making such a fuss about the loss of one advert for one footpath deviation – or, indeed, councils daring to advertise jobs online and elsewhere – speaks more about the desperate straits that the newspapers have found themselves in than an insidious campaign by local councils to push their local newspapers over a cliff.

Some go too far; no doubt.

But, in every likelihood, that can simply be because there’s an empty playing field in front of them…

… and armed with no more than a lap-top and a mobile phone, any council PR person is now a digital publisher. And one that doesn’t have to pay for a paper boy every night; tis all-but free.

Anyone who seeks to impose an answer on the web – ie, we are the only possible repository for planning applications, local council job ads etc… doesn’t ‘get’ it.

Or rather they all ‘get’ it. They just wish the rest of us didn’t for a little while longer…

By: Jason Cobb

Jason Cobb — Fri, 01 May 2009 08:06:03 +0000

Lambeth Council’s fortnightly Lambeth Life has fallen into the trap of believing that it is a stand alone news publication, and not a medium for communicating council policy to the electorate. A recent edition carried the front page lead ‘reporting’ on concerns that local newspapers were carrying ads for massage parlours in the area:

[PDF]

http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/4A747E5F-E730-452D-ACB7-076B817F3CED/0/LL68.pdf

Fair point. The South London Press was the clear target here, and it clearly does itself no favours by having a full page each week for local prostitutes trading as adult massage.

But is this really worthy of a front page splash in the council tax financed information sheet? Where is the benefit to the electorate in such a cheap dig at a publication that Lambeth Life clearly sees as a rival?

Competition in the market is healthy, both in terms of advertising, and more importantly, in terms of chasing down news leads. The introduction of Lambeth Life into the local news distribution chain however has led to the South London Press changing a previous objective editorial stance towards Lambeth Council to launching a sustained attack on the local council across most issues.

There is no reporting of the facts, just a tit for tat onslaught as each rival publication lays into one another.

Ultimately it is the electorate that suffers, as well as democracy and local politics.

By: Marc Schmid

Marc Schmid — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:31:44 +0000

Interesting article Paul, one that will give us much food for though as we ponder our future comms strategy. There are some points that need to be aired however as to how we have ended up at the point where government ministers are intervening in this debate. From the council perspective much damage has been done by those Councils who are obviously trying to produce a product that in essence is attempting to portray itself as independent of the Council and is often branded accordingly. To me this is driven not by a desire to inform but instead to compete with the local newspaper and at the same time income generate. There is simply no need to go this far but by doing so they have prodded the beast – a beast with powerful friends in government, the media and the opposition. Most Councils have been producing decent newspapers which fool no-one as to who produces it. In many areas the local newspaper actually prints the product to offset the loss of income from council job adverts etc. It is in these areas that the argument that council papers has caused the demise of local newspapers struggles as the suffering in these parts is due not only to the economic climate but from decisions to close local news offices and scrap local community pages and correspondents. Short term decisions with little regard to the long term impact on the paper’s important community role. My fear is that whilst we are looking at ways of meeting the challenges of informing citizens and at the same time supporting the newspaper as a local employer and healthy check on what the Council does, we are going to find ourselves bound by a knee-jerk decision by a government or opposition party based on arguments founded around the battle between some poor decision making by some Councils or the vested interests of multi-national newspaper groups.