Great news – newspaper closes
Some good news from the newspaper industry at last – Press Gazette reports that “Thurrock Council has abandoned plans to launch a fortnightly council newsletter costing £300,000 per year”.
http://blogs.pressgazette.co.uk/wire/5817
None of our business
Council leaders found there was no business case for the publication. (It’s very rare that there’s a business for anything local government does – but let’s not carp …)
The report quotes Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw as saying that council-run newspapers “reminded him of Pravda”. (I’m not sure whether that’s praise or condemnation. But, again, let’s not carp …)
Not now
The report was slightly marred by a classic typo:
In an investigation for the Evening Standard, Andrew Gilligan revealed that council-paid journalists and press officers may not outnumber independent local newspaper journalists in London.
What Gilligan actually said was:
A Standard investigation has found that in London more writers are now employed by these official papers than by the local independent press.
Lies, damned lies, and council news
But as the Gilligan piece makes clear, these council-run propaganda sheets pose a threat to real newspapers, and possibly even a threat to local democracy.
At least, they would if anyone read them. Mine go straight in the cat-lit tray.
Nuff said
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23724285-the-propaganda-newspapers.do
Some good news for the newspaper industry at last – Press Gazette reports that “Thurrock Council has abandoned plans to launch a fortnightly council newsletter costing £300,000 per year“.
None of our business
Council leaders found there was no business case for the publication. (It’s very rare that there’s a business case for anything local government does – but let’s not carp …)
People’s Commisar Bradshaw speaks
The report quotes Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw as saying that council-run newspapers “reminded him of Pravda”. (I’m not sure whether that’s praise or condemnation. But, again, let’s not carp …)
Not … now
The report was slightly marred by a classic typo:
In an investigation for the Evening Standard, Andrew Gilligan revealed that council-paid journalists and press officers may not outnumber independent local newspaper journalists in London.
What Gilligan actually said was:
A Standard investigation has found that in London more writers are now employed by these official papers than by the local independent press.
Lies, damned lies, and council newsletters
But as the Gilligan article makes clear, these council-run propaganda sheets pose a threat to real newspapers, and possibly even a threat to local democracy.
At least, they would if anyone read them. Mine go straight in the cat-lit tray.
Nuff said
Parish newsletters are a different story. They are invaluable for finding out what is proposed, what is happening, who to contact, and finding a chimney sweep. They are also short, easy to read and written by people who actually care but are not paid.