Blame the owners for the demise of local papers

Published: 26th May, 2011

• I AGREE with your May 19 Comment that local newspapers are vital to a free press and a healthy democracy.

But I think you are wrong to lay the blame for the sad demise of so many local papers at the door of local councils and the information sheets they produce for their residents.

Responsibility for local papers being shut down lies with their owners, usually big chains unlike the New Journal, who care only about profits and little about local democracy, debate and discussion.

They use council newspapers as an excuse for shutting up shop and throwing journalists and others out of work, paying little heed to the valuable role these publications have traditionally played in their local communities.

Eric Pickles and his Localism Bill aim to strengthen the idea that council publications are to blame for local newspapers shutting down when this is clearly not the case.

Council-run newspapers offer no competition to well-run, properly resourced, local newspapers staffed by professional journalists and can play an important role in keeping people informed and involved.

There are many examples of councils working with newspapers to their mutual benefit, and to the benefit of their communities. Councils need to communicate with residents who pay the council tax. Please don’t let Pickles’s clumsy and politically-motivated attempt to clamp down on them cloud the real issues.
Mark Whitehead
Press & PR Branch
National Union of Journalists