Category Archives: councils

countculture: Videoing council meetings revisited: the limits of openness in a transparent council

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"Last night, I headed over to Maidenhead for the scheduled council meeting to test this out, and either provide a shining example for other councils, or show that even the most ‘transparent’ council can’t shed the pomposity and self-importance that characterises many council meetings, and allow proper open access."

The video below, less than two minutes long, is the result, and as you can see, they chose the latter course

Online Journalism Blog: Online journalists left out in the cold by local government

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"[Canadian journalist Hedy Korbee's] experiences of local government [in Birmingham] – and of local journalism – have left her incredulous. Since arriving Hedy has attended every council meeting – she notes that reporters from the BBC and ITV regional news do not attend. Her attempts to get responses to stories from elected officials have been met with stonewalling and silence."

Evening Standard: The propaganda newspapers

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Andrew Gilligan: "A Standard investigation has found that in London more writers are now employed by [council-run] papers than by the local independent press. ... Across London, official council newspapers now employ around 120 people. When council press officers, who actually write much of the content of most papers, are included, the figure rises to 360. The total number of editorial staff on independent local newspapers in London, much-diminished after a series of cuts, is around 350. The total cost to the public purse of councils getting into the publishing business? Around £10 million a year in London alone."