Concern over online advertising

Jamie McIvor
BBC Scotland Local Government Correspondent

Concerns were expressed at any move away from placing notices in papers

Print journalists have never been strangers to hyperbole but when newspapers talk of the crisis in their industry it is no exaggeration.

The press has been hit by what headline writers might call a double whammy: sales of many papers have fallen badly over the past few years and advertising revenue is well down too, partly because of the recession and partly because of these falling sales.

Local papers and some Scottish national titles such as The Herald and The Scotsman made a lot of their money from classified adverts - for instance, job and house adverts.

But in recent years some sellers and buyers have turned away from the press and concentrated their attention on the internet, which is cheaper upfront and sometimes more effective.

Many councils have been doing the same.

Last year all Scotland's councils set up a national recruitment website - myjobscotland.gov.uk - which carries details of every local authority vacancy.

But they also cut down dramatically on the number of job adverts in print, particularly in national papers.

Now there's concern about where other council adverts - for instance statutory notices on road closures and contracts being put out to tender - may appear.

The government takes the view that there should not be a policy of publishing notifications only online Scotland Office statement

The UK government is urging Scottish public bodies to continue using newspapers to publish their notices.

Following a probe into the future of the Scottish newspaper industry by the Commons' Scottish affairs committee, the UK government is urging Scottish public bodies to continue using newspapers to publish their notices.

The Scotland Office said: "The government takes the view that there should not be a policy of publishing notifications only online.

"Part of the duty when placing notices, such as job advertisements, is that they are effective in reaching their target population."

However the organisation which represents the collective interests of Scottish councils - Cosla - says the MPs' report does not tell the whole story.

A Cosla spokesman said: "First off the report is very one-sided and not balanced up by the evidence from councils.

"Nobody is saying this is all about adverts shifting away from papers to online.

"It is absolutely about reaching as much of the general public as is possible - it is in councils' interests to reach as many people as possible as well, whether in relation to recruitment adverts or public notices.

The spokesman added: "We must be mature about this and move away from the very narrow argument around one versus the other -newspaper versus online.

"It has to be about utilising to the maximum all the tools at our disposal in effort to reach as wide an audience as possible - we must utilise - libraries, community councils focus groups etc.

"That said we cannot underestimate the budget choices facing all of the public sector not just councils at this present time and councils have to make best use of all the resources at their disposal - so there is obviously a cost element to consider as well."

One-size-fits-all

Council spending across Scotland is under pressure.

The bulk of council money comes from the Scottish Government which is facing a tight budget settlement.

Meanwhile a deal between councils and the Scottish Government means there should be no rises in the council tax next year.

Many councils are facing difficult decisions on cuts while this year's round of pay negotiations is also expected to see tough choices.

Some in the media say a one-size-fits-all solution for council adverts across Scotland might be difficult.

Some local papers reach a very high proportion of the community - in some areas this is not the case.

The proportion of people with internet access also varies from region to region and according to age and social groups.

While most councillors are keen to see a healthy press, it does not mean they would be prepared to spend money on newspaper adverts if they thought other options were better value for money.

The challenge for newspapers is to persuade councils that dropping press adverts is a false economy.