onionbagblog

This makes for a very interesting read – @kayewiggins considers what the reality might be if that family favourite Lambeth Life actually gets sucked into the empty vacuum that is #lambethcoop.

Oh Lordy.

“I found out from chatting to Lambeth council leader Steve Reed the other day that one of his pilot projects for turning the council into a co-operative will be to give the local community more involvement in the council-run paper, Lambeth Life.

Reed said this might involve shared community ownership of the paper – residents might invest money in it and stand to profit from doing so.”

First of all don’t downplay the importance of the word “might.” I might grow my hair, I might start playing golf – hell, I might even join @LambethLabour. But you never know until you take these chances…

@kayewiggins continues:

“But he was unclear about how much editorial control residents would get over the paper’s content. He suggested a model similar to that of the BBC, in which a ‘trust’ (whose members might in this case be elected by the residents who had invested in the paper) would appoint an editor and hold the paper to account.”

I’d wager that zero editorial control will be part of the co-operative process with residents. This would remove the very reason for Lambeth Life actually existing – selling the good news story that is @lambeth_council.

It is interesting that @cllrstevereed mentions the BBC. Only yesterday (blimey) and the other false prophets of Third Way thinking were proposing the very same co-op model for everyone’s favourite broadcasting institution.

There is a hell of a difference between the esteemed BBC and Lambeth Life. One is a cherished institution with very real local, national and international value; the other is a tatty piece of council propaganda.

Plus don’t forget that “co-op” is the current Nu Labour buzzword for cuts – it may just be that some cuts are more welcome than others. Perversely Lambeth Life would certainly seem to fit into this category.

During my #lambethcoop consultation with the apolitical Julian Ellerby, the Director of Campaigns and Communications @lambeth_council (and former regional Director of the London Labour party,) we touched upon what services a local authority should be legally obliged to provide.

Housing, education and health all figured highly. Publishing a council run propaganda sheet each fortnight was low down on my list of priorities. It seems that @cllrstevereed still reckons that Lambeth Life has legs. I wonder why that is?

The justification for Lambeth Life in its present form is that the saintly @LambethLabour doesn’t have to sully it’s scented nose by taking out statutory ads in the sex ad funded @SthLondonPress. Transform the mini Pravda into a genuine business, and the contempt that cabinet rightly or wrongly holds for the local media, is given further credence.

As for the suggestion of “investing money in the paper” and you really have to question what is the role of #lambethcoop, and more importantly, what the hell is the role of Lambeth Life itself?

It appears from the plans that both are about making money, something once again which I suggested to the former regional Director of the London Labour part, is a role that any rational local authority should stay well clear of.

As with most of the ideas flowing out of #lambethcoop to date, it seems that the lumping in of Lambeth Life seems like an incredibly clumsy attempt at trying to justify further cuts to the public purse.

In this case, it is most certainly welcome. Lambeth Life has no life as an investment opportunity, and any foolish attempt to try and pull this off will no doubt lead to the demise of the chest beating publication.

The sign off line from the good @kayewiggins is spot on the money:

“But if the council still intervenes to prevent potentially damaging stories, many residents will be disappointed. They might even come over very #bigsociety and start their own local newspaper or website to rival the council freesheet.”

Now there’s a free market thought for you…