Journalists biting the hand that feeds

Journalists cannot resist sinking their teeth into local government.

We can hardly blame them. We all love those storylines about how public money is being squandered by local authority incompetence.

And now a Black Country regional newspaper is kicking up a stink about the amount Dudley Council is spending on public relations.

The Express & Star reported that the council spent £945,000 on PR last financial year, which was made up of a £680,000 wage bill for a team of 24 press officers and £265,000 in running costs.

But is all this fuss really justified?

First, councils hold the purse strings to millions across a plethora of departments. Yet what they spend to cope with the deluge of media interest in council affairs is just a spit in the bucket of council finances.

Local authorities are so highly accountable to the public and vulnerable to criticism, it is vital that they maintain a strong PR function to manage their relationship with the media and public.

But above all, journalists are biting the very hands that feed.

Local newspapers rely heavily on council PR departments as a reliable source of news, about everything from drains to planning applications.

Without them, where else could local newspapers turn for such a steady stream of local news?