Editorial policy

Life is the council's monthly magazine for the residents of North Somerset. It is published 12 times a year and, like any publicity issued by the council, must meet the legal tests laid down by the national code of practice on local authority publicity.

In addition to this, the following editorial policies and values apply:

The role of Life is to communicate council priorities, plans and policies, events and initiatives to the people of the district. Where space allows, Life also carries information of possible interest to residents, such as:

Life aims to complement the council's vision for the district by showing how it is:

Life aims to reflect the huge range of the council's work and how council tax payers' money is spent to support this. It contributes to a positive relationship between the council and its residents and encourages them to value the democratic process. Life's values aim to mirror those of the council by:

Life seeks to do this in an interesting, lively and readable format. The publication has the same production values as any other professionally- produced magazine. The human interest angle is what will make people read an article.

Life is apolitical and the news within it may be defined as “political” only to the extent that the work of the council is a reflection of decisions made by the controlling political group or groups. While it may deal with controversial issues, it will not do so in a way that could be construed as giving support to a political party.

As per legal guidelines on local authority publications, Life is not a tool for party political campaigning or profile-raising by parties or individual councillors. Where councillors are quoted or photographed, these will normally be portfolio holders who are members of the Executive. Occasionally it may be necessary to quote other councillors if they hold some form of office, for example the chair of a particular committee, but this will be the exception rather than the rule.

Life will be written, designed and edited by the Marketing and Communications team with print and distribution arranged through an external contractor.

Life articles are loosely divided into three types:

We also try to include several News in Brief (nibs) columns. These are very short news items often of no more than one or two sentences.

Each council department is encouraged to canvass ideas and suggestions and forward them to the editor. Executive members and senior officers are also invited to suggest items for inclusion. However, editorial decisions on the use of stories and images are final and there is no automatic right of approval for contributors. So long as it meets the criteria outlined above, the only real yardstick by which we assess any item is: “will this be interesting and/or useful to readers?”

Contributors may correct errors of fact, but must accept the house style of writing and layout. Likewise, no guarantee can be given that any article will appear in a specific issue, or indeed at all. The only sure fire way of guaranteeing publication is to pay for an advert (see Graphics team for rate card).

If an outside agency writes and designs a feature for Life, the editor reserves the right to final approval of editorial content and layout.

Pictures are a key part of the impact of North Somerset Life. The emphasis is on strong, colourful and lively images. Images of men in suits, people shaking hands, presenting cheques etc are generally filed under the heading “worthy but boring”!

Wherever possible we prefer to commission a photographer who knows what we are looking for rather than rely on supplied photos. Whatever is chosen, photos must be of high quality.

Technically, most photos are now supplied as digital files, but these must be of a high resolution.

North Somerset Life is available in large print and audio formats, and in various languages on request.

Life accepts advertising from internal and external organisations. Adverts must be well designed and normally in full colour. Acceptance of any advert does not imply endorsement of any particular products or offers and North Somerset Council accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising out of a response by any party to an advertisement appearing in the publication.