'Council publications no rival to local press'

Local councils under fire from publishers for launching newspaper-style publications have hit back in a submission by the Local Government Association to the Office of Fair Trading.
In the submission, the LGA says it "supports local press which it believes plays a vital role in local democracy by scrutinising the work of councils."
But it claims "local authorities’ own publications have an important function that newspapers do not have – telling residents about the 800 services councils offer."
The LGA says it has has encouraged councils to set up their own publications as part of its "Reputation" campaign, launched in 2005 after research found that two thirds of residents know almost nothing about local government.
Cllr Margaret Eaton, chairman of the LGA, said: “Put simply, effective communications – including council magazines – lead to higher levels of satisfaction with local authorities and help people access local services.
“A typical council publication is distributed four or six times a year, and does not operate as a rival. The growth of the internet has had a far bigger impact than council newspapers.
“With the best will in the world, the local media cannot provide the same amount of information about how to access services as a dedicated council publication can.”
Newspaper publishers, however, argue that there is a growing trend for councils to increase the frequency of their publications in order to carry more advertisng.
The News, a free fortnightly with a 90,00o distribution, being launched in May by the London Borough of Barking & Dagengham is the kind of newspaper-style council paper that is causing serious concern among newspaper publishers.
The council has said it will withdraw all but statutory advertising from the local press and will compete for commercial business. When I did a story about it for Press Gazette, Chris Carter, the editor of the Barking and Dagenham Recorder, described The News as a “stab in the back” to the local press.
LGA submission to OFT local media review (PDF, 3 pages, 71KB)
I wrote an article for The Journalist on Town Halls and the Local Press which touches on this topic.