A Trinity Mirror weekly has launched a hard-hitting campaign against its local council’s own newsletter.

Today’s Fulham and Hammersmith Chronicle (below) heralds the start of ‘Proper Papers Not Propaganda’ against the fortnightly ‘h&f news’ which is produced by Hammersmith and Fulham Council.

The campaign is designed to raise awareness of the council’s publishing activity and what Trinity calls the “threat to democracy this poses to the borough’s residents, local businesses and politicians”.

It was also hoped the campaign would attract the attention of central government, national commentators and key decision makers, the company said today.

MD of Trinity Mirror Southern Simon Edgley said: “We have always maintained that while we support the council’s statutory obligation to communicate its activities to residents we don’t believe it should present its views in a way that suggests h&f news is an impartial news observer.

“The format, content and frequency of the h&f news is quite clearly intended to look and feel like a genuine newspaper, which of course it is not.

“It is outrageous that the council is using taxpayers’ money to produce a publication that masquerades as a newspaper but which instead produces biased council spin.

“The council’s publishing strategy is fundamentally wrong and our ‘Proper Papers Not Propaganda’ campaign will continue until the h&f news, in its current format, is stopped.”

The campaign is planning to mobilise residents’ support, raise awareness that h&f news is run by the council and inform residents that £174,292 of tax-payers money is used for h&f news.

The Chronicle includes a petition form, a double page advert campaigning against the council and next week will launch an outdoor advertising campaign around Hammersmith and Fulham.

A spokeswoman for Hammersmith and Fulham Council said: “Hammersmith and Fulham residents prefer h&f news, the only local family paper that does not take sex ads.”

Comments

Rob (26/03/2010 11:14:27)
Trinity Mirror holds the printing contract for this and countless other “mini-pravdas”.
When they take the stand to stop taking cash from them, then I might start listening.
Although we all know the real argument has nothing to do with democracy. It’s all about the cash cow of public notices that have been propping up an industry that has itself become over-reliant on council tax payers’ money. Before H&F news pulled it’s advertising from the chronicle it was spending £100k a year on public notices – Always rate card because the ad department knows there is a statutory duty to advertise. No wonder the council looked for alternatives that they feel represent better value for money.
If newspapers are going to fight this battle why not be honest about it , instead of hiding behind pious arguments about democracy and sticking up for the man on the street. It’s about the shareholders, and nothing else.

Robbie (26/03/2010 11:35:06)
Spoken like a true council PR Rob. The fact is that these regular publications pretend to be real newspapers when in fact they are quite the opposite. They follow an agenda which is pro council all the way

FAST WOMAN (26/03/2010 11:57:25)
Actually Rob, h+fnews is one of the council papers NOT printed by Trinity Mirror. Although just last year Trinity Mirror did win a four-year contract to print half a dozen mini-Pravdas run by other London councils.

Observer (26/03/2010 12:39:07)
Great sentiment. But when newspapers have the resources to spend on journalists who can actually scrutinise local councils and not spend all their time whingeing about the money councils spend on their own publications, will this bleating about protecting democracy seem anything other than a hollow claim.

John (26/03/2010 12:43:42)
I agree with Rob, it’s all about money. Local councillors rake in a fortune in allowances. If there is no scutiny of their work there is more chance of re-election and they can stay on the gravy train. In Dagenham the local Pravda ensures an ample supply of good news stories and only costs £600,000 pa, a piddling amount given how many councillors fear being ousted by the racist BNP.

Londonhack (26/03/2010 12:54:19)
Rob – who’s side are you on? “Pious arguments”?? Yes of course newspapers are concerned about the losses they are making due to a sharp drop in public notices being advertised with them. But there is no hiding from the fact these publications are propaganda pamphlets and the press offices which publish them are keeping stories from their local papers so they can run them first.
The F and H Chronicle deserve a medal for sticking their head above the parapet and publishing what the rest of us are just talking about.

Rob (26/03/2010 14:54:15)
Londonhack kind of says it all for the vast majority of local newspapers – “press offices which publish them are keeping stories from their local papers so they can run them first….”
I was always of the opinion that the way to get stories was through contacts and hard work, not sitting around waiting for a council press release!
I remember when papers had enough reporters to put in some legwork and get decent off-diary stories. Unfortunately, all those press cutbacks have left the majority of local newspapers reliant on press releases – as Londonhack has so readily demonstrated.
I’m all for a vibrant, free press and always have been. The problem is newspapers don’t have the resources anymore because profits come ahead of investment.
And once again, this is not an argument about democracy, it’s an argument about money.

I AM SUBTACUS (26/03/2010 15:16:57)
Yep, money, including salary levels, definitely has a part to play here. Otherwise the clutch of ex-Trinity Mirror editorial and advertising people beavering away on the Hammersmith and Fulham Cl paper might still be with the company. Or maybe not, as TM ‘rationalised’ a lot of full time journalists and regular freelancers out the door last year in London.
And unionistas please note, there are NUJ members on council papers.

My Experience (26/03/2010 15:19:25)
for many years regional newspaper groups have fleeced local and regional councils by charging exorbitant rates for public notices when other categories of business were being charged a lot less.It’s taken Councils a long time to realise how public money was being thrown at local press.If Trinity want to go to war with the local council they should consider the long term repercussions and spend the wasted energy on providing a good newspaper that everyone wants to read, and build new revenues.Simon just sounds bitter.

Griff (26/03/2010 15:30:48)
Ironic to see the Chronicle campaigning against spin and propaganda when their sports pages have been plastered with little else for some years now. For some reason TMS think football fans want to read endless drivel about QPR backed up by a ‘source’ or ‘insider’ who is in fact chairman Gianni Paladini promoting his own interests and trying to make sure others get the blame when things go wrong at the club. Is that what local journalism is all about? I don’t think so.

Donald (26/03/2010 15:47:40)
Why does the NUJ accept PR members? They aren’t journalists, because they are simply writing what someone is paying them to say, as opposed to being paid to write

Londonhack (26/03/2010 15:53:52)
Rob, you’ve missed my point again. You are just taking the odd sentence and interpreting it in isolation to suit your own, rather bizarre, point of view. (Do you work for a council press office by any chance??)
OF COURSE papers should never rely on local councils (or any other organisation for that matter) to supply them with a steady stream of press releases. In fact, 99 per cent of all council press releases I’ve ever seen have ended up in the bin. It’s a reporter’s job to get
off their backside and find meaningful stories which matter to their audience.
The point I was trying to make was that councils are actually withholding information which is in the public interest so they can dress it up to suit their political agenda and spread it all over their fresheets first. We, as local papers, are then having to grab that information, de-politicise it and chop out the propaganda, which I admit is part of our job, but the council freesheets are reaching my audience first.
And even if money has a role to play in this argument, so what? Local papers are a business as well you know!

I AM SUBTACUS (26/03/2010 16:02:36)
Donald – where they still exist, there are good design subs whose jobs mostly involve laying out spin-style advertising features – not really that different from those working on council papers. Others work on supplements built around revenue, like motoring and property pull-outs.
Are you saying none of these people can be NUJ members?

FAST WOMAN (26/03/2010 16:26:34)
OK, this is getting personal. Or perhaps ‘personal services’.
This has got to be quote of the week, and as good as any of the htfp Friday Funnies ‘cock-ups': A spokeswoman for Hammersmith and Fulham Council said: “Hammersmith and Fulham residents prefer h&f news, the only local family paper that does not take sex ads.”

michael wale (29/03/2010 10:10:26)
Whilst wholeheartedly agreeing with your campaign against the H and F News and all council papers, it is time to reflect how local journalism got in this position. The cut back in local reporters leaving council and courts hardly covered is at the root of the problem. For democracy to work we must have a strong local press. Even your own paper is not based in Hammersmith or shepherds bush! Heather Brooke, the ecellent journaist who broke the MP’s expenses row, which was then taken up by the Daily Telegraph believes this. Her book The Silent State out later in April should be read by all newspaper owners as well as journalists.