The journalism brain drain to local councils

The continued cutbacks in local and regional titles and its implications for the reporting of local government is examined by John Slattery in an article in the journalist

It is according to John accelerating the ongoing trend of journalists moving to the relative safety of working in PR in the public sector

There is a danger he says

this editorial brain drain to the public sector will tip the balance, with professional publicly financed PR material filling the vacuum left by under-staffed and poorly paid journalists.

Of course if journalists are writing the stuff then there is much evidence that it is going in to the local press unedited.

But also with all this professional expertise

Councils are not just sending out press releases; they are producing their own papers, which newspaper companies regard as unfair competition and journalists fear will further drive down the standard of reporting.