CRUMBRIA: 19/05/202
GRASSROOTS political party Putting Cumbria First has exposed some world-shattering figures about how much money our local councils are spending with our local media.
It turns out that in just 10 months, Wokemoreland & Farcical Council handed over £186,000 in advertising to prop up our toothless paper tigers.
Scroogequest, which has an unhealthy monopoly on what the public in Crumbria reads about their Clowncil, owns SIX of the county’s EIGHT newspapers and banked nearly £140,000 from Wokemoreland & Farcical.
A nice little earner for the US-owned company whose titles here include the Evening Snail, Barrow; The Crumbling News, Carlisle; and the Times & (Red) Star, Wokeington.
Over several years, this advertising arrangement runs into millions and millions!
Meanwhile, ‘Blahnon Media’, which runs Penrith snoozepaper, The Slumberland & Westmorland Imperilled; The Keswick Forgetful; and the once mighty news site ‘Cumbria Slack’, banked £46,500 from W&F.
The reason our local media companies are pocketing hundreds of thousands of pounds from the Clowncil is to print their Public Notices.
Yet as circulations dwindle, fewer people see them than a triple solar eclipse.
And it’s a “pecuniary interest” that our local newspapers NEVER openly declare.
So despite this news from Putting Cumbria First being firmly in the public interest – you can bet your bottom bollock that you won’t read about it ANY of your local papers this week!
The Crumbria Media here would rather draw a veil over this cosy little arrangement.
It’s a good job you’ve got The Chronic!
Colin May, of political party Putting Cumbria First, has rightly demanded to know why our Clowncils are advertising in ghost-town printouts that have the reach of a Post-it note left at a bus stop.
Is this value for money, or is it just Council Taxpayers subsidising next week’s cat litter and firelighters…you decide!
Does this questionable little deal also explain why our Snoozepapers are jam-packed every week with cut & paste Council Press Releases or soft touch reports from meetings that go to the far end of a fart about the most moribund of topics?
If it’s a choice between properly investigating Council decisions and spending, or upsetting your biggest local advertisers, who wins?
With nearly £140,000 sucked out of W&F Council, Scroogequest could hire SIX Churnalists on £25,000 a year to help fill the dying, if not dead, Evening Snail, or The Wasteoftime Gazette with actual news rather than, er, meaningless travel-related shitbait.
As for The Imperilled and Crumbria Slack, The Chronic has long observed that it appears to miss/ignore/forget/overlook negative stories about Wokemoreland Clowncil, and Crumberland.
Could the two things be, by any chance, related?
We’re sure it’s total coincidence!
Clowncils should cut off this pipeline of money and our local newspapers need to be more upfront about how much they are trousering from this significant advertising client!
Kudos to the truly independent and hyperlocal news website, Penrith Town, for having the ‘testicolas’ to uncover this story and blow the lid off the idea that our “newspapers” are impeccably holding our Councils rigorously to account.
It has proven once again that it is the only journalistic show left in town.
© Artwork by Cranksie for The Chronic.
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