A council leader has claimed that “constant negative stories” about the local authority are to blame for falling newspaper sales.
Martin Rooney, Labour leader of West Dunbartonshire Council, in Scotland, made the comments on the Facebook page of the Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter.
His post, which he later deleted and then republished, accused regional weekly newspapers of “highlighting crimes such as garden shed thefts and running down the local councils” to the detriment of their sales.
In response, the Reporter’s editor has now challenged Cllr Rooney, pictured left, to edit an edition of the paper himself.
Cllr Rooney’s republished post, pictured above, reads: “The average weekly newspaper circulation continues to fall. I am not really surprised by this but its [sic] a worrying trend that will lead to mergers or some newspapers going bust.
“This affects local jobs but newspapers are also an integral part of our community. I don’t know the specific reasons but I would guess its [sic] down to instant news on the internet and social media such as facebook.
“But I also think its [sic] a lot to do with the constant negative stories that locals run highlighting crimes such as garden shed thefts and running down the local councils etc.
“I genuinely think they have lost their way and more positive stories is the way to reverse the trend. Circulation must go up when the newspapers do positive news stories such as pupils starting schools etc.”
According to the most recent ABC figures, the Dumbarton and Leven Reporter sold an average 2,429 copies each week in the second half of 2014 – down 15.3pc on the same period in 2013.
Reporter editor Henry Ainslie said: “It is true that newspaper sales are declining across the board but our audience is growing all the time through our unrivalled online coverage of stories and issues affecting Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven.
“We have a duty to report everything that has, is, and is going to happen in the area – regardless of whether it is ‘positive’ or ‘negative’.
“Cllr Rooney is perfectly entitled to his opinion on declining sales, and I would like to take this opportunity to publicly invite him to guest edit an edition of the Reporter, and put his theories in to practice.”
The issue has also attracted comment from John McLellan, director of the Scottish Newspaper Society.
He said: “Local newspapers are packed every week, and their websites every day, with positive news about their communities, marking births, marriages, school achievements, graduations, and happy anniversaries. But they are not there to sanitise problems or provide propaganda for local authorities.
“Wise civic leaders understand that fair criticism is a necessary part of accountability and scrutiny and do not expect their local paper to be a slavish celebrant of all they do.
“And with online and mobile audiences growing steadily, it is no longer sufficient to measure the relevance or otherwise of any news organisation simply through hard copy sales.”
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The councillor is correct – no more negative comments about local authorities, please. The potholes have all been fixed; the waste collection service is faultless; our schools are ‘outstanding'; and members’ expenses are above reproach. That real estate conference in Monaco is just what council taxpayers want to see their elected representatives and their officers doing with our cash and all is for the best in all possible worlds. Get that straight and circulations will recover.
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Council chief in fundamentally misunderstanding how the man in the street views his council shocker.
Council stories have been local newspaper bread and butter for over a hundred years. I once got accused of being in ‘the council’s pocket’ by a reader because I wouldn’t do a story about a dog’s barking keeping him awake at night.
It’s that kind of comment which made it the greatest job in the world.
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Guest edit the paper? Terrible idea. That is what you get paid for pal!
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Dick…council beanos go on all over the place: In Texas, Kirgyzstan, Cork, Jiangmen City (China) etc etc. When you get a little bit older perhaps you will understand that the world is like that. As long as they are transparent and some good comes of them why can’t people meet up to exchange ideas? Are elected councillors supposed to go around with long faces and dressed in hair shirts?
What about all the millionaire farmers who receive subsidies from the taxpayers so that their “businesses” can stay afloat?
What about all the money received by the Royal Family?
I never read newspapers questioning if this is money well spent.
Journalists are traditionally very creative when it comes to their own expense accounts. Everybody knows journalists will run a mile to enjoy a p… up.
It’s time media commentators came down from the pulpit and spoke about things that really matter to readers instead of giving them a constant diatribe of criticism directed at soft targets.
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Let’s hope that he learns to use an apostrophe before he’s let loose on that editing job. Oh, and nice one, Dick
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Some anti council stuff looks like desperate space filling to me. Nothing to worry councillors usually. Hacks seldom produce good investigative work on regional and weekly papers now.
Either too few staff or too raw to get stuck in.
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Typically shallow comment. never see beyond the easy headlines do ya?
not surprised the editor wants to hand over his job to the council leader, looks like he is a one man band. but he may have a career in PR ahead of him, glorious little body swerve about their declining sales, but unrivalled online coverage!!
memo to all journalists: stop being so bloody defensive every time someone has a go! you need to be held accountable, so dont over-react when you are
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Perfectionist?
Another cosseted public sector spin doctor more like.
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This is all they can talk about at Dumbarton PC Club in Weknowbest Lane. My spies tell me they have pinned up the Reporter front page on their skybluepink board. Every evening the throw specially-blunted plastic darts at it. Nothing sticks, of course. Keep up the good work, Mr Ainslie.
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Well this certainly isnt the case in my patch, where the local JP owned paper has become so low on staff (with editor post up for axeing to merge into hub) that they have gradually become a mouthpiece for the borough council. Plenty of good news snippets from council and local PR. No rise in sales though.
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Sunset: When I get a little bit older I’ll be pushing up t’daisies in corporation boneyard, pal, and the council never mows the grass. But why are local authorities “soft targets” in your view? You’re not implicitly admitting they might not be perfect, are you? Anyway, I’m off to an editorial conference in Qatar now, so see youse all later.
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Cumulus? Nimbus? Or cirrus? Just wondered what kind of clouds Coun Rooney’s head is in.
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Seems to me Mr Rooney wants to ignore stories that actually matter to his community and paint a rosey picture of the world. He should find out more about the “specific reasons” the newspapers are going downhill and do something positive about it while he still can.
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Gosh, what an unusual assertion to hear from a council leader…
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Good news stories ‘like starting pupils starting school’. Give me a break, Councillor. That’s about as newsworthy as dog chases cat’. Can’t wait to see the exciting ‘guest-edited’ version! Or does the elected member mean that pupils in Dunbartonshire are actually starting up their own schools. I take it all back. Now that would be a story worth writing – and reading!
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Bluestringer. Journo actually. My comments aimed at publishers who deny papers staff to do a decent job. Some councils do not see a reporter from one month to next.
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Negative council stories are fair, when they are well researched, balanced and correct, and a fair representation of an issue.
When I was a council press officer, our authority gritted upwards of 500 roads during snowfall, which the local paper didn’t report, to keep the borough moving. Guys were out at 4am in terrible weather to do that. It did report that one small side street had not been gritted so Mr x couldn’t get his car out for work, and what a poor show from the council that was. Never mind the fact Mr x could have moved his car in advance, walked, used public transport, taken the day off, or that a grit bin was available nearby and sharing schemes existed.
Asking the council leader to guest edit an edition is a really good idea, a test of him as much as a test of the newspaper’s commitment to good and bad news.
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I live in West Dunbartonshire Council and this man rightly has been taken to task repeatedly by our two local newspapers of late.
There has been one public relations disaster after another week in week out in their patch.
And when I say it’s bad, I mean it. Take it from me: It’s at a level that is completely out of hand and has made West Dunbartonshire Council an absolute laughingstock.
Perhaps he’d prefer it if The Reporter and the Lennox Herald changed their names to Pravda and acted accordingly?
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If the council leader is upset, the paper must be doing its’ job properly. There are various reasons why sales are falling but holding the council to account isn’t one of them.
Rooney hasn’t a clueney.
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Would have loved to have been a council press officer at a Labour council this last five years, what a quality gig that would have been.
“We’d have loved to have removed your rubbish or gritted your road, but unfortunately the government’s austerity agenda means we’ve had to make big decisions with regards where our funding is allocated, and at the moment we’re concentrating on protecting the most vulnerable of our community.”
I’d keep a template on my Outlook account and spend my days looking out the window and sipping that fine council coffee (council meeting filter coffee is the finest coffee I’ve ever had, and I’ve been to Manhattan).
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REPLY TO DICK MINIM:
Local authorities are soft targets because they cannot easily give their own side of the story unless they print Pravdas.
Many local newspapers automatically criticise councils every time they hold hospitality events. This reveals their writers to be naive, or at worst, bigots These councils are often Labour authorities, but I like to think that is down to co-incidence, even though the General Election is pending.
As contributors to HTFP comment nearly every week, many newspaper groups no longer have local government reporters so is there any wonder journalists often don’t understand what they are writing about?
The question that needs to be asked is: Does this beano benefit our local community?
Hospitality is commonplace now throughout business, schools, hospitals etc etc.
You mention Qatar. Those Gulf states hold some of the best beanos around. No-one parties better than an Arab prince, but I wonder how many beanos go to fund Islamic State terrorism in Syria and Iraq?
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He may actually have a point… many local newspaper reporters simply take criticism of their local authority at face value. They run the story and think that adding a two par response from a long-suffering press officer at the bottom somehow balances the whole article.
It does not.
That’s not to say that councils don’t deserve to get a kicking from time to time, but a sense of proportionality is needed. Just because someone complaints doesn’t mean they are right… or deserve the time and effort to have their views aired.
As a former local newspaper reporter, I chose my targets. They weren’t always easy, CEO’s pay being a big one; but also paying for his “career development trip to New York” at taxpayers’ expense. But when the council was accused of “selling” children for adoption, I took a very different line. (Btw I’ve also seen one council tenant get coverage because the council wouldn’t clean their patio of bird mess).
By ramping up non-stories into scandals because the council can’t sue you do no one a justice.
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