Cambridge Matters editorial policy
Purpose of Cambridge Matters: In publishing this magazine the Council aims to:
• Improve access to services by providing residents with the information
they need;
• Engage residents in decision-making through consultation;
• Promote the role of the Council as a community leader;
• Communicate the work the Council is doing to achieve its medium term
objectives;
• Reduce the number of other publications produced by incorporating them
in Cambridge Matters;
• Provide feedback on Council expenditure and performance;
• Address key issues of interest to residents.
Responsibilities:
• Corporate Marketing, in discussion with directors and heads of service,
will be responsible for drafting a forward schedule of key content and
deadlines for the magazine for the year ahead. This forward plan will be
reported to corporate management team (CMT);
• When approved the forward plan will be sent to sent to directors and
heads of service and published on the intranet. It will be sent to party
leaders for information;
• For each edition Corporate Marketing will consult directors and
departmental management teams in good time on priorities;
• Corporate Marketing will draw up a list of the main items of content arising
from those discussions and this will be reported to CMT;
• Corporate Marketing will take responsibility for commissioning the content
(words and images), editing submissions and liaising with suppliers to
produce and distribute the magazine;
• The final proof of Cambridge Matters will be signed-off by the Chief
Executive.
Content:
• The majority of content will feature in the forward plan and the list of
content for each edition that will be considered by CMT. However,
Corporate Marketing will have discretion over additional content in order to
react in a timely way to issues that were not foreseen at the planning
stages;
• Content should be focused on at least one of the following:
o Engage residents in services through consultation or inviting
feedback;
o Engage residents in the operation of the Council (e.g. area
committees);
o Provide information that residents need to access services;
o Provide information about new services;
o Promote services that generate income for the Council;
o • Provide information about Council decisions.
• Content will be high quality, accessible to all and be representative of the
diversity of Cambridge city and will support the Council’s equalities
objectives;
• Content will meet the requirements of the Local Government Code of
Publicity to ensure there is no political bias;
• Content will ensure a good balance of Council services is represented.
The work of any department will generally be presented corporately as the
work of the Council. Department names will only be used where
necessary
• All staff will have the opportunity to contribute content but it is their
responsibility to ensure the appropriate head of service has been
consulted to check for factual accuracy;
• Content should have the widest possible appeal;
• Content must be factually accurate;
• Copy should be written in plain English to make it easy to read;
• Images will be strong and good quality by being illustrative and people-
focused wherever possible;
• Corporate Marketing will have discretion on whether to include any non-
planned content;
• Corporate Marketing will edit submissions to ensure they meet any agreed
style;
• Corporate Marketing will be responsible for the layout and design of each
edition.
Timing:
• Corporate Marketing will be responsible for drafting publication dates for
Cambridge Matters and consulting directors and departmental
management teams on these;
• Cambridge Matters will be produced at times that support the Council’s
priorities. This means that as a minimum editions will be produced:
o Before Christmas to publicise the bank holiday bin collections and
Council’s opening hours;
o During the summer to include election results and councillor contact
details (previously the Know Your Councillor leaflet), area
committee information and children and young people’s events;
o In spring with information on the Council’s budget and plans for the
next twelve months.
Document Outline
