According to the Newspaper Society, Councils have long published useful newsletters or guides to services, but the industry’s concern centres on the more frequent publications – monthly, fortnightly or weekly council newspapers or magazines (such as East End Life, H&F News, East Riding News) – as well as those websites and broadcast services (such as Kent TV) which compete for readers and advertisers with independent local media.
Council title Hackney Today’s media pack says it offers the “largest reach in the borough of any local paper” and takes “all sorts of advertisements including statutory notices and recruitment” at “extremely competitive rates”.
H&F News says it has “more than double the readers of our nearest competitor” and quotes readership statistics from a survey undertaken by a commercial research company on behalf of Westminster City Council.
Many of the council newspapers are laid out in a similar format to local newspapers meaning they are not easily distinguishable form independent press.
The NS audit of 436 local authorities across the UK found that many councils are publishing their own newspapers and many have names similar to those of independent local newspapers or are laid out to appear the same.
Some of the findings were published in this Wednesday's Evening Standard by Roy Greenslade (pictured) who said council newspapers were “undermining the only publications that hold local power to account”.
“They are anti-democratic in both spirit and in practice, and their disappearance will not matter one whit to the public,” he wrote. “It is time to put all such publications to the sword before they kill off independent local papers.”
The NS audit found half of the local authorities surveyed in London published a newspaper or magazine on a monthly or more frequent basis and 90 per cent contained or accepted third–party or public sector advertising.
Outside of London, 54 per cent of local authority publications contain news which relates to topics other than council services, and nearly a third contain advertising. Examples of more frequent competing local council publications outside of London can be seen here.
In a submission to a consultation on the Publicity Code for local authorities last month, the NS highlighted the government’s encouragement of ‘commercial’ local authority media offerings and says that council services which compete directly with local media for audience and advertising should be prohibited.
The NS called for changes to the Code to include a requirement that market impact tests be conducted before local authorities are allowed to launch new publications or media services.
