Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
I have a Thing about the Haringey People Magazine
When I first lived in Haringey, I remember being interested in reading the Haringey People. From what I recall its remit was broader, covering topics like local history and the like.
Now when I read it, I see a cog in the Council's PR machine. The ONLY stories covered are ones which speak to the achievments of the council. I know of several people who have tried to get the magazine to cover local, non-political, non-contentious local interest stories. None have even had the courtesy of a reply, let alone the mersest hint of a small mention.
So what is this magazine? I'm sure it serves some purpose and does provide some information. But the type of information and the editorial spin is so very selective, I don't think I'd be hysterical in asking whether it's little more than propaganda. Look at the next/last issue and tell me what you think.
All of this led me to submitting a Freedom of Information request on the cost. I recently received my reply. Both request and reply area attached.
The reply was drafted by the deaprtment responsible for publishing the magazine. I found it rather defensive. Highlights from the reply from my perspective are:
Annual cost: £348,000 + 1,000 FTE hours per year - probably another £20,000. Total = £370,000 approx
Distribution: 100,000 - £3.70 per household per year
Quote from reply: "A clear majority of respondents say that the magazine is their main source of news about the council.....respondents see it as more important than all the local newspapers combined."
So, the least independent, least objective publication in the borough is the MAIN source of news for most people about the Council. Any alarm bells ringing yet?
It costs my road about £550 a year. That's around £25,000 for all Harringay.
Good value?
Now when I read it, I see a cog in the Council's PR machine. The ONLY stories covered are ones which speak to the achievments of the council. I know of several people who have tried to get the magazine to cover local, non-political, non-contentious local interest stories. None have even had the courtesy of a reply, let alone the mersest hint of a small mention.
So what is this magazine? I'm sure it serves some purpose and does provide some information. But the type of information and the editorial spin is so very selective, I don't think I'd be hysterical in asking whether it's little more than propaganda. Look at the next/last issue and tell me what you think.
All of this led me to submitting a Freedom of Information request on the cost. I recently received my reply. Both request and reply area attached.
The reply was drafted by the deaprtment responsible for publishing the magazine. I found it rather defensive. Highlights from the reply from my perspective are:
Annual cost: £348,000 + 1,000 FTE hours per year - probably another £20,000. Total = £370,000 approx
Distribution: 100,000 - £3.70 per household per year
Quote from reply: "A clear majority of respondents say that the magazine is their main source of news about the council.....respondents see it as more important than all the local newspapers combined."
So, the least independent, least objective publication in the borough is the MAIN source of news for most people about the Council. Any alarm bells ringing yet?
It costs my road about £550 a year. That's around £25,000 for all Harringay.
Good value?
Tags for Forum Posts: freedom of information, haringey people, local newspapers
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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IF IT IS better because there is (currently) a reduced amount of nakedly partisan political propaganda in it, then there may be a legal reason for that:
According to yesterday's Ham&High (p.10), under Section 2 of the Local Government Act 1986, during the election period, a council must not publish any material which (wholly or partly) appears to be designed to affect public support for a political party.
Even so, the leader of the opposition believes that this prohibition has been abused by the council ruling group.
[incidentally, the corollary of the Local Government Act's rule about this appears to be that at any time except election time, a council may publish any material which (wholly or partly) appears to be designed to affect public support for a political party. This seems to be a guiding principle for Haringey People, if not its raison d'etre. Shouldn't there be a complete prohibition on majority groups' politicking with public funds, in all councils?]
Doubtless once the European Election has past, any current braking on "Cabinet" member promotion will come off and Haringey Pravda magazine will revert to normal speed in advancing the interests of the current majority group, using the public's funds.
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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Depends whether the current majority group are still current. But then 'FOCUS' may well be the nakedly partisan political organ - and our Council Tax will be supporting it!
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I THINK a distinction needs to be drawn between, on the one hand, publications of, by and for political parties, be they Conservative, Labour or Liberal Democrat or whatever and, on the other hand, publications of the local authority or local government.
In the case of the former publications, they are not paid out of public funds whereas the latter is.
In the former we expect a particular party viewpoint; whereas in the latter we should expect not to see a party political bias.
With party publications, there is no pretence. With Haringey People, there is continual pretence that this is an impartial, objective publication – which makes it the more insidious.
In HP, there is advancement of a single political party, which is the council majority group. It is as blatant as the selection of photos to publish or as subtle as the issues which the "editorial" chooses to not to cover.
There is an analogy with the parliamentary expenses row:
Partial, favoured benefit is obtained at the expense of the general taxpayer.
This is an abuse, even if individuals are not gaining obvious personal benefit.
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I do find that many people on HOL only look at things in a black and white manner (that was irony in case it was missed ;-) ).
If the council is run and has policy directed by a political party then the policy of the council will inevitably mirror some of the views of that party. I'm not sure how that can rectified to the satisfaction of all. Central government doesn't feel the need to send out papers to all people in the UK, so not sure why local councils do.
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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Is HP is our very own, local 'Little Red Book'? Maybe we should all wear a uniform. :)
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Propaganda on the Rates. I appreciate that this is off-topic, because today's news item (below) is only slightly connected with the subject of this thread. Haringey People is our council's esteemed journal of record and informs us monthly in full colour about the fine job they're doing in every respect and how wide are the smiles of Members of the Cabinet Executive.
I'm sure that Local Government Secretary Pickles wasn't thinking of HP when he criticised propaganda-on-the-rates and intends doing something about the "town hall Pravdas".
How we would miss HP if it were slimmed down or published less frequently. Or had less editorial.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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Yes I noted the news item too. I have to get past my instinctive loathing of Eric Pickles first, which is very difficult. I wonder what they can actually do to control council freesheets? Get them all subbed by Conservative Central Office before publication? Nothing in the press release gives any clues to process, except that they are pissed orf.
I have suggested that HP could be distributed as a pdf to those who want to avoid waste paper and mailing costs. I would gladly add my (secondary) email address to a list for that. Someone from Haringey's Green Team took away that suggestion from a forum last year but I havent yet seen a response.
And third, while I'm here doctor, I note that the last copy of HP was delivered by TNT 'post'. So LBH are directly and deliberately undermining the Royal Mail. TNT 'post' is forced to be delivered by the regular postie for peanuts, TNT takes the profit. Nice work Labour group. Can anyone in the know tell us the relative costs please?
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Haringey Pravda: PDF Distribution
I think that this would be a good, if partial, step forward.
There would a huge saving in paper. Plus, a saving in the current physical distribution of the reams of paper to every single household in the Borough, where not every edition is always read cover-to-cover by each resident.
I have previously suggested that if they must print it, a great saving could be effected if they simply delivered the print-run directly to the re-cycling centre, where it currently ends up, largely unread – but only after the wasteful distribution phase (unsure what proportion is put into general rubbish and ends up in landfill).
This would cut out the middleman of the council recyling collectors. I'm disappointed that a supposedly listening council, the greenest in London, hasn't yet adopted the suggestion.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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"Can anyone in the know tell us the relative costs please?"
You can be 'in the know', Pam, by asking the question yourself. Perhaps as a Freedom of Information Act question. Then you aren't dependent on a local 'big man' (or woman) as an intermediary.
(Tottenham hale ward councillor.)
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Pam: the big man's right: it's easy to make an FoI request: the relevant page on the council's excellent website is here (may see you at the vibrant gathering).
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I'm no longer sure which is worse (or the biggest laugh): council tax-funded mags, advertiser-funded 'free' rags (whether called 'Advertiser' or 'Independent'), or 'Journal'/'Gazette'-type old lags with no real footprint in the community any longer and whose 'reporters' just hang around waiting for the free handout or rumour from council, opposition or even community website.
None of these papers have anything to do with the concept of a Free Press. Of course Eric Pickles' concept of a 'free press' is probably pretty narrowly defined, not likely to gel with what (many) HOL contributors might have in mind.
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I'd add, Pam, that the website WhatDoTheyKnow.com is useful for letting other people know about your F.o.I question and the answer you get.
By the way, despite Clive's gibe, I've no pretensions as a 'big man'. Nor do I approve of the colonial version of the 'big man' system which some councillors (from all parties) appear to regard as their role.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor
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