social media and the council mag

Visit: http://www.comms2point0.co.uk/comms2point0/2012/2/13/social-media-and-the-council-mag.html

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With budgets shrinking there is pressure to do more for less. One of the first victims has been the printed magazine. Attacked by politicians. Blamed by the newspaper industry the residents magazine has been a staple of local government communications. This post by Ross Wigham from Northumberland County Council shows how it’s possible to blend the old and the new to keep residents informed.

Council magazines may seem like a strange topic for discussion given the amount of time and effort we now spend on social media but I just wonder if we’re now discarding a tool that’s still got so much to offer in the internet age.

Whatever the format, people still love reading stories that build a narrative about where they live and what interests them.

Given that local authority mags now seem to be the communications equivalent of the bowler hat I’d like to reassess what they can provide, particularly in tandem with social networks.

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