Community magazine denied print funding after 'criticising authority'

Plans to produce a print version of a community magazine in Salford have been canned after the local council denied funding.

The Salford Star was launched in May 2006 and was last printed in winter 2008, before the quarterly publication went online only.

However, editor Stephen Kingston wanted to relaunch a printed edition at least once a year, because high poverty levels in the area mean that around two thirds of potential readers do not have internet access.

Mary Burns Community Group, which publishes the title, asked three of Salford's eight Council Community Committees, that are empowered with their own budget for community projects, for half of the £7,000 needed for a 15,000 print run of the 100-page glossy magazine.

Salford City Council stepped in and said that the publication "did not meet the criteria" laid down by the city council to safeguard expenditure of public money.

A further report claimed that the publication is "overtly political in nature", "does not take a balanced view" and "tends to criticise the authority, in particular singling out Salford Council and individual councillors".

Any publications funded by the council or its committees must meet certain guidelines so that they do not breach discrimination and libel laws. They should also not be "of an overtly political nature".

Kingston told PrintWeek: "There is nobody holding council spending to account, nobody is investigating local money in the area. We need a printed media in Salford.

"Meanwhile, the council continues to produce its own Life in Salford monthly magazine at a total cost of £28,000 per issue."

He added: "If we can just get out once a year that would help, we can at least tell people we are on the internet. How can we tell people we are here without a printed version?

"A printed version will happen eventually, we get donations, take advertising and sell things like t-shirts. But it will take years for us to make the money by ourselves. It is a publication for the community, the community should be allowed to fund it."

However, the council has maintained that it is a matter for each community committee to decide how it spends its funding whether applications meet the criteria.

The council's strategic director Sue Lightup said: "We received our first application from a publication for community committee funding in 2007 and as a result we put in place some guidelines so that we can demonstrate fairness and transparency when deciding on funding applications.

"These are the same guidelines we're using today and all applications for funding are considered as part of a formal process involving the relevant community committees. In this case, the East Salford Community Committee decided that the Salford Star did not meet the criteria and therefore did not accept the application for funding."

The news comes as Trinity Mirror's Chronicle title continues a campaign against H&F News, the Hammersmith & Fulham Council publication.

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