Chicken and egg, Sly

SOMETHING of a fuss last week when Sly Bailey, Trinity Mirror’s very own Sauron, attacked council newspapers as “mini Pravdas” that sought to rob seekers-of-truth publications, like those she administers, of vital revenue that allows them to pursue their core mission of holding our leaders and would-be rulers to account.

Hypocrite, cried local authorities, who pointed out that TM also derives income from these organs, specifically through print contracts. The rest of us were left to scratch our heads, wondering how the Hell Bailey could have got herself into such a pickle. After all, if her newspapers were well-enough resourced to bring on journalists that delivered scoops time and again, and remained much loved by the audiences they were pitched at, then what was the problem?

Advertisers go where the readers are, after all.

Of course, Bailey’s on a hiding to nothing. As an asset stripper, she has no equal in the media industry. She has placed the business she was supposed to be minding in a position where it’s all headed the wrong way, by forsaking investment in research and development in favour of delivering a decent return for the company’s backers. Redundancy remains a major feature of this strategy, which now must be regarded as having failed. Her job, however, seems safe – which is odd as she hung her hat on the failed strategy.

But put her words in somebody else’s mouth – or, in this case, after another opinion – and there may be a case to answer. Bailey says:

“In some cases, council newspapers are using tax-payers’ money to compete directly with the independent free press.

“This is damaging to local commercial publishers and is a real threat to local democracy. The abuse of tax-payers’ money to peddle council propaganda dressed up as journalism is an outrage which must be stopped.”

She’s right. There should be no way that our Council Tax is being used to present us with a picture that all is rosy in the garden, stifling public scrutiny and debate on how money is being spent in our name.

It’s just an ironic shame that she is chiefly responsible for producing a climate where local authorities feel suitably emboldened to take the traditional media on as a credible alternative.