This is a copy of my weekly blog which I write for work and is published on the council's intranet.  The views I express in this log are my own, professional, views as the Head of Communications but do not necessarily reflect those of the authority itself.

It seems, once again, that council newspapers are under attack from national politicians.  This time they are promising to ‘force councils’ to review their publications.

One MP says authorities need to make sure their newspapers aren’t ‘going beyond their remit’.  In an article in Friday’s PR Week,  the 
MP said that ‘local newspapers are being driven out of business because they haven’t got the resources to compete with council publications’.

Earlier this year it was the Newspaper Society which was criticising councils about their publications.

This is an issue which is close to my heart because I’m on a national working group, representing local councils from across the UK, and we are lobbying in favour of us being able to freely produce civic newspapers.

I know for a fact (because I asked them) that the Johnson Press in Yorkshire does not have an issue with us producing About Leeds.  Johnston Press doesn’t think for a moment that we are trying to put it out of business or steal ad revenue.

Unfortunately, there are some local authorities (notably one in London) that does appear determined to make life difficult for its local newspaper.  The council in question publishes a weekly tabloid, spending upwards of £1m a year doing so while also bringing in money from adverts.

My working group has actually distanced itself from this particular council because we don’t agree with what it is doing.  We’re particularly upset that it is dragging the rest of us down – and giving the impression that every other council in the land is doing the same.  The words ‘brush’ and ‘tar’ come to mind.

I’m tempted to invite these criticising MPs to Leeds to show them what we’re doing here and demonstrate that this council is no threat whatsoever to the local media.  I’d like the opportunity to explain to them that we’re actually looking at establishing a ‘partnership’ publication with the input (and resources) of the police, NHS and other organisations who have a vested interest in Leeds.

In other news … it was a very busy time for us last week as we prepared for and then handled the queries regarding the comprehensive area assessment and the inspector’s report about our children’s services.

The Audit Commission published the CAA results under the banner of ‘total place’ and explained repeatedly that it was all about what life was like in a particular area, rather than a report about the individual organisations in that particular area, which are responsible for delivering public services.

In one of the commission’s briefings about total place, I was told it would be much easier for the media to understand.

Bad news I’m afraid, I don’t think it has worked.  The media, it seems, is completely confused.  I’m basing my assessment on several of the interviews I overheard and questions from reporters that I saw.

One journalist who interviewed Cllr Stewart Golton seemed completely clueless about the whole thing, judging by the questions they asked, particularly around the issues regarding our children’s services.

And there was a comment I saw from another reporter who didn’t seem to understand why ‘the council was being blamed for burglary rates … surely that’s the fault of the police and isn’t it unfair for you to take the flack?’ they said.

Maybe.

Actually, no.  We’ve all got a role to play in reducing crime in Leeds.  But it’s interesting to note that despite the best efforts of the Audit Commission there doesn’t appear to be much of an appreciation from the media about just how much joined up working there is these days.

Oh well.

Maybe I should send them a copy of the letter from Paul Rogerson, which we published on the intranet and portal on the morning that the CAA announcement was published.  It explained – in plain language – what CAA is all about and what the report actually said about us and our partners.

Well, hold on.  We did … sort of.

Paul’s letter formed a news release which we issued on the same day.  We did our best to break CAA down into digestable chunks and explain it in its simplest terms.  Think ‘Fisher Price: My First News Release About the Comprehensive Area Assessment’.

Maybe reporters thought that it was too easy to understand and that we were trying to hide something?  Or perhaps that they just weren’t interested?

Who knows.  Anyway, it was all over in flash.  The CAA report seemed to be today’s news and tomorrow’s chip paper even faster than usual.