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Industry voices concern over council advertising

Regional press bosses are seeking to highlight concerns over the migration of local council advertising to their own websites and freesheets.

The Newspaper Society says the trend is bad for democracy as well as depriving local newspapers of much-needed advertising revenues.

It has recently held meetings with leading Conservative politicians to voice its concern over the gradual shift of public notices and other local authority advertising away from the local press.

The society has also stressed the strong opposition of all sectors of the advertising and media industry to any curtailment of government expenditure on advertising, as some Tories have advocated.

NS director David Newell said: “It is important that all politicians in all parties appreciate the potential impact upon local democracy.

“Removing the mandatory requirement public notices to be published in newspapers is likely to lead to more secretive government and to many important grass roots issues being decided without proper consultation or debate.

“It is quite possible that a council might find it advantageous to post certain controversial notices – such as proposed planning developments – on an obscure part of their website away from the public gaze, undermining the right to know.

“Publicly-funded competition for third-party advertising revenues on council publications and websites and the removal of public sector advertising could also impact seriously upon the local newspaper industry by cutting off an important revenue stream.”

Comments

Former editor (15/12/2008 12:44:49)
I don’t have much sympathy with the papers on this one. The councils paid top whack and ad managers rubbed their hands in glee because the councils were over a barrel. How I wished I had run a story on how the councils were being ripped off. I would have been a former editor a little sooner though…

Mr_Osato (15/12/2008 15:19:25)
Let’s get the world’s smallest violin out then… having seen their reaction to forcing the scrapping of the BBC ultra-local services, the NS and its members have lost all credibility in terms of appealing for changes in public policy. What are they, businesses or charities?

martin tidd (15/12/2008 17:13:10)
Former editor is right. And David Newell is talking rubbish. He is not worried about democracy only revenue.
If the NS were really concerned with democracy their members would not be sacking or reducing journalists all over the country. Most editors worth their sort will still pursue misuse of council power and grass roots issues. If they don’t they will see their circulations falling even further and then attract even less advertising.
David should realise Councils have an obligation to keep all residents informed but local newspapers free or paid no longer deliver to every home and business and to keep costs as low as possible to the local tax payers many councils take a small amount of advertising. If newspapers are worried about sales why not advertise the benefits of their paper in their local council publication?
I would also point out that most council publications are printed by newspaper publishers who are probably members of the NS.
Come on NS stop whingeing and be creative. Then you might just survive.
Martin Tidd