Perplexing Pravda Pickle

I think quite a few people sympathised with Eric Pickles when he came out against 'Townhall Pravdas', those mock newspapers produced by your local council promoting your local Labour Mayor or whatever. Sorry, I mean publicising the work of your council.

Back in June Pickles explained that "The previous Government’s weakening of the rules on town hall publicity not only wasted taxpayers’ money and added to the wave of junk mail, but has undermined a free press." I think that's broadly true.

More to the point he also argued that;

"local newspapers have been put under increasing pressure in recent years by the proliferation of town-hall Pravdas. These glossy magazines have been designed for the sole purpose of telling people how great the council is. And they are competing with independent newspapers for readers and advertising space: undermining local newspapers already under threat from the internet and the 24-hour news cycle.

"This has serious consequences for local democracy. Local journalists have a proud tradition of holding councillors to account, questioning unpopular decisions and exposing unsavoury behaviour. These propaganda sheets are no substitute for a free and independent press."

The government using a supposedly independent looking medium to put out subliminal, or all to often very liminal, propaganda is a serious issue. Especially so at a time when local papers are struggling with a lack of advertising revenues meaning they don't have the funds to produce the kind of quality local paper that you can find in some other countries and that local communities deserve.

However, I wonder if I'm the only person to have been surprised to see that while the government is clamping down on this sort of behaviour by local councils it seems to be toying with the idea of using the BBC's network to do the exact same thing on a national level.

The Independent reports that "The Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude is in talks with BBC bosses about running a series of adverts on their TV and radio stations... it could go much further than the long-standing relationship under which the BBC had the power to choose what it broadcast. Insiders believe ministers could now demand regular slots for government information films... Such a move would require a change to the BBC charter, which gives the corporation complete independence over the content of its broadcasts."

The BBC Trust described the idea as having "serious implications for the corporation's independence and impartiality". They said that it was for the BBC "alone to decide what it broadcasts and when". It added: "Furthermore, if the BBC were to broadcast free of charge advertising content that could otherwise appear on commercial channels, that would be likely to have an adverse impact on the wider market."

So basically exactly the same arguments that applied for the Town Hall apply for Whitehall. I hope Pickles doesn't find out, he'll be furious, it will make him look like he has double standards.