Hackney Today, gone tomorrow?
Hackney's elected mayor, Jules Pipe
What is to be the fate of Hackney Today, Hackney Council’s freesheet?
Currently it is published fortnightly, but the Town Hall could be limited to publishing just four issues per year under proposals outlined by Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.
At a meeting on 6 December 2010 held to discuss the future of council publications, Hackney’s mayor Jules Pipe recently tied himself in knots outlining the role of Hackney Today.
It “is not meant to be reflective of the generality of life in Hackney,” he told the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, adding that this was “the job of the local newspaper”.
The Mayor suggested that part of the job of the council’s freesheet is counter negative depictions of the area in the local press. However, there is a fundamental ambiguity in his presentation of Hackney Today.
The Mayor claims it is not, and does not pretend to be, an independent newspaper, and that its purpose is to inform residents of council services and information.
As the Mayor said: “It is a newspaper in style; it is printed on newsprint admittedly, but it does not carry all those things you would expect to see in a local newspaper, from local sport to TV listings to classified ads. None of those things are in there and never have been.”
The Mayor is equivocating here, as the council makes it look like a newspaper by including Sudoku, gardening tips, and interviews with local personalities.
The Mayor also claimed that Hackney Today “clearly says on the front: ‘Produced by the Council’”. It does not: it says: ‘Circulated to 108,000 homes and businesses by Hackney Council.’
As late as 20 September last year, the masthead read: ‘The paper for all Hackney people’, with no mention of who produced it.
Hackney Today should be clear about its purpose and not masquerade as an independent publication.
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