*We welcome Richard Tyrie as our first Guest Author for quite a while for this post*
Councils told not to use websites to compete with local
media
Secretary for
Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, has told councils not to undermine
local media outlets by trying to compete for readers and advertising revenue
with their own websites and publications.
So here we are,
still basking in the immediate after-glow of the rousing Obama inauguration
speech last week. We heard about his plans for a new era of openness,
transparency and trust in government (US government, anyway); a sole focus on
policies that were beneficial to the electorate, and the scrapping of policies
that were dogmatic and ineffective. Fantastic stuff. Whatever your position on
OB, you can’t deny that his inspirational leadership style, and the spirit and
substance of his plans (not to mention his oratory skills) will bring about
significant change to the nature of government in the
US.
And then we have
our own government. .
In the last
fortnight alone, we’ve had the Heathrow third runway debacle; the attempted
draft bill to exempt MP’s expenses from Freedom of Information Act legislation,
ergo: “we don’t want to tell you taxpayers what your £87.6 million pa is being
spent on”, which, incidentally, our Gordon did a sharp U-turn on, following a
*significant* backlash by the internet ‘massive’ (way to go tweeps and
facebookers..). Now government has come over all ‘traditionalist’ with the
announcement of the latest initiative from Ed Balls’ office telling councils
“not to undermine local newspapers by competing for readers [with their own
websites]”
WTF? Do what?
Are you serious?
Err hold on a
minute… Last time I heard, the careers section of a local authority website
was reported as being the most heavily trafficked section of all LG websites; in
fact SOCITM (the society of IT Managers) reckon that the jobs section of a
.gov.uk website is likely to serve four times more page impressions than
the next most trafficked section of a local gov site (which, incidentally is the
rather fascinating ‘planning application’ bit…)
Speak to any
local authority hiring manager that actually measures where their response comes
from (there are a few out there - not many mind…) and they’ll tell you how
little response they get from ‘trad med’. What little response they do
still get is precisely what they don’t want: the same types they’ve
always attracted (pale, male and stale are, I believe, the descriptors du jour
amongst local government officers).
The fact of the
matter is, the local press just isn’t a practical, cost-effective solution any
more, nor does local press advertising generate even vaguely diverse
shortlists. Local Governments historic use of press as a primary
attraction method (and the subsequent nature of the local government workforce)
amply bears this out:
1) The private
sector (proportionally) hires three times more young people than local
government (Only 6% of a workforce of 2.2 million is under
25)
2.)Only 9
authorities (out of 336) have a workforce that reflects their communities in
terms of ethnicity
3.) They largely
attract ‘more seasoned’ applicants; in fact 31% of the workforce is going to
retire in the next decade (see point 1)
Oh
dear.
So employers… no
young people? Just loads of err ‘experienced’ people? Not enough applications
from black and minority ethnic communities? You betcha!
Funny that, but
then that’s the profile of local press readership..but then if you do what
you’ve always done….
On the flip
side, we have the web, which is now making the majority of hires out there
(London borough of Newham make 86% of all hires online now). Its proving to
generate a *massively* more diverse candidate pool – indeed, one LA
reported over 1000% more interest from BAME’s (black and minority ethnic
applicants) per pound spent compared to ‘traditional’ press advertising..
That’s a
compelling business case for the web – non?
Local press is
dying. Its Darwinian; survival of the fittest; natural selection. The truth
is, inefficient, structurally weak, strategically adrift businesses die over
time – and so they should. Frankly, if they don’t move with the times, they
should be left to wither.. trying to prop them up is analogous with US congress
bailing out Ford or GM. Utter madness.
So when the
Newspaper Society bleats on about how important local press is, in “ahem,
providing a voice for local communities”, I suggest you get with the program Mr
Balls, and see what’s really occurring out there. Speak to local authorities.
See what’s happening. We know it would be nice to keep the local press happy,
but hey, this is about getting the right people to provide public services, not
just currying favour with publishers with ever decreasing influence by ensuring
them a few quid in advertising revs.
Do the right
thing, and ditch the dogmatic stuff that isn’t in our interests any more..
Failure to do that, could mean you find yourself withering too, and probably
quicker than you imagine.
Richard Tyrie
Founder, Jobsgopublic
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