Restricting council publications will not rescue local newspapers, says industry group chair

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Placing restrictions on council-funded publications is not the right answer to the decline of local newspapers, the chair of an industry group representing more than 200 local authority communication departments has said. Writing on Comment is Free, David Holdstock, chairman of LG Communications , says council newspapers and magazines increasingly "fill the growing information gap in response to poor or non-existent reporting of council policies, decisions and events in local newspapers".

Holdstock's comments come in response to new plans announced by Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles to clamp down on taxpayer-funded council newspapers, focusing on the rules surrounding their content. Pickles told Channel 4 News on Saturday that he has launched a review of "the unfair competition" posed by local authority titles to commercial newspapers. Council newspapers have come under fierce criticism from local newspaper editors , owners and industry groups, who say the local authority-owned titles are a threat to independent journalism and local commercial media revenue derived from public notices and council advertising.

But Holdstock argues against these criticisms, suggesting that government should allow local authorities to "advertise statutory notices in the most cost-effective media for the local taxpayer", which may be online rather than in a local printed newspaper. In addition, research conducted by LG Communications suggests that the majority of the UK receives a council magazine or newspaper no more than once every two months and at this frequency such titles are unlikely to affect commercial media, he says.

"There's no doubt that local newspapers are finding it difficult to cover local democratic issues during these difficult financial times and will face serious challenges in the near future, but the "prohibition" of local government publications is not a solution to these problems," writes Holdstock on the Guardian site.

"Placing restrictions on council publications could damage the progress made in increasing how well-informed people feel about their councils, how satisfied they are with the place they live and their engagement with local democracy and civic society as a whole."

The government's review should include a commitment from local newspapers to improve the quantity and quality of local journalism, Holdstock adds.