Local Democracy, Journalism and Public Relations: The changing dynamics in local media and public sector communications
Carmel O’Toole, "Local Democracy, Journalism and Public Relations: The changing dynamics in local media and public sector communications"
English | ISBN: 1138044644 | 2019 | 204 pages | EPUB | 6 MB
English | ISBN: 1138044644 | 2019 | 204 pages | EPUB | 6 MB
This is a critical examination of the impact of sustained large-scale austerity cuts on local government communications in the UK. Budget constraints have left public sector media teams without the resources for robust citizen-facing communications. The "nose for news" has been downgraded and local journalists, once the champions of public interest coverage, are a force much diminished. The book asks, what is lost to local democracy as a result? And what does it mean when no one is holding the country’s public spenders to account?
The authors present extensive interviews with communications professionals working across different council authorities. These offer important insights into the challenges currently being faced by communicators within local public services. The book also includes in-depth case studies on the Grenfell Tower disaster, the Rotherham child-grooming scandal and the Sheffield tree-felling controversy. These events all raise serious questions about the scrutiny and accountability of local authorities and the important role the media can and does play.
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