Dear Sheffield City Council,

Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, I wish to
receive the following information from your authority:

1. The name, frequency and distribution/circulation of your council
newspaper (by council newspaper I mean the most frequently
published newspaper or magazine intended for mass distribution
covering more than one topic)

2. How much it cost to produce and distribute said newspaper in the
last full financial year, and how much was budgeted from council
resources in the financial year 2009/2010

3. How much of that cost is offset by advertising

4. How much of that advertising, if any, comes from external
sources (ie not from your authority's budgets)?

5. Which other public sector partners pay to run advertising in
your newspaper, eg PCTs?

6. Whether recruitment advertising forms part of the advertising in
your newspaper?

7. A copy of an editorial policy guide, if one exists, which
governs the material which is placed in the newspaper, and how it
is decided

8. A copy of an advertising policy guide, if one exists, which
governs what sort of advertising is suitable.

9. The number of people employed to put your newspaper/newsletter
together, including total cost and staff organisation chart

Some parts of this request may be easier to answer than others, and
should this prove to be the case I would ask that you release
available data as soon as possible rather than hold up the entire
request.

I would prefer to receive this information electronically. If the
decision is made to withhold some of this data using exemptions in
Act, please inform me of that fact and cite the exemptions used.

If you need any clarification then please contact me at the email.
Under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance I would
expect you to contact me if you find this request unmanageable in
any way.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have
received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you in
the near future.

Yours faithfully,

L Barnett

Dear Sir/madam,

Thank you for your freedom of information email request received at First
Point.

Your request for this information has been forwarded to the information
officer and will be dealt with as promptly as possible.

You should expect to receive a reply within 20 working days.

For more information visit the councils [1]freedom of information page

Please do not hesitate to contact [2]First Point again with any further
enquiries you may have.

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you wish to comment on our service please fill in our [3]Customer
satisfaction survey. This will form an important part of our service
development.

Yours sincerely,

Customer Services
[4]First Point

show quoted sections

RE: 92863 FOI Council newspaper

Hello

Here are the answers to your FOI request.

    Dear Sheffield City Council,
    
     Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, I wish to
     receive the following information from your authority:
    
     1. The name, frequency and distribution/circulation of your
council
     newspaper (by council newspaper I mean the most frequently
     published newspaper or magazine intended for mass distribution
     covering more than one topic)

   Your Sheffield, produced 4 times per year to all households in
Sheffield, 235,000 households in total
    
     2. How much it cost to produce and distribute said newspaper in
the
     last full financial year, and how much was budgeted from council
     resources in the financial year 2009/2010
    

   £150k of area based grant funded the magazine. An additional £40K
was allocated from Council resources.

     3. How much of that cost is offset by advertising
    

    We started a new contract with a new supplier in August 2009. Since
then, we have had an overall income of around £20K. However, income per
edition can vary

     considerably.

     4. How much of that advertising, if any, comes from external
     sources (ie not from your authority's budgets)?

     Around £12K
    
     5. Which other public sector partners pay to run advertising in
     your newspaper, eg PCTs?

     They don't on a regular basis but they will place adverts from
time to time
    
     6. Whether recruitment advertising forms part of the advertising
in
     your newspaper?

 

      No, recruitment advertising does not form part of the magazine
    
     7. A copy of an editorial policy guide, if one exists, which
     governs the material which is placed in the newspaper, and how it
     is decided

 Your Sheffield

Editorial Policy 2009/10

Your Sheffield is a citywide magazine that focuses on public services in
Sheffield.

It is 24 pages, in full colour and produced at least four times a year.

Its editorial values are that it will:

. be activities led

. help residents to learn about and access public services

. focus on the activity areas preferred by residents

. encourage feedback on public services and how we communicate

. promote community cohesion - one city, one Sheffield

. be produced to high quality editorial and production standards

. be `people based' in its editorial approach

Adopting these values will help to inform residents both about what is
happening in Sheffield and the benefits of partnership work. The magazine
will be delivered to all households in Sheffield, approximately 230,000.
It will be managed by Sheffield City Council on behalf of Sheffield First
Partnership.

Core content

Core content will focus on the themes of Sheffield's Local Area Agreement:

. children;

. environment;

. health;

. safety; and

. the city's economy.

In addition to this core information, there will also be features that
highlight bespoke initiatives of particular agencies and organisations,
who will be able to buy space. These paid-for articles will be sourced via
Sheffield First editorial board and will need to fit the advertising
criteria outlined in the policy.

As well as core information and paid-for articles, each edition will also:

. include an interview with a celebrity

. invite reader views and feedback via a cut out feedback form

. have an upbeat `Dear Reader' introduction 

. have a free reader competition

Content - style and design

. Content will be image dominated rather than word dominated

. All copy will be to the point, interesting, informative and punchy

. Articles will be short and broken up by bullets and by the design
to maintain reader interest

. Councillor quotes will be avoided

. Articles will focus on individuals to `lead' a story, so that all
articles `chime with readers life experience' rather than including
officer quotes

. Articles and content will encourage and inform and not `preach'

. Design will be bright, bold and attractive

Planned research on the magazine will be carried out and feedback from
this will be used to inform revisions to this editorial policy and changes
to the magazine.

     8. A copy of an advertising policy guide, if one exists, which
     governs what sort of advertising is suitable.

Your Sheffield

Advertising Policy 2009/10

Advertising is accepted from Sheffield City Council Services, partners and
other public service sectors. Advertising is also accepted from outside
companies who meet our criteria.

It is important to recognise areas that are likely to be controversial or
offensive; this means that advertising will not be considered that is
likely to cause serious or widespread offence. Particular care should be
taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, age, sex, sexual
orientation, religion or disability. This will be judged on the context,
product and prevailing standards of decency.

In particular advertising will not be considered that:

. Promotes irresponsible consumption of alcohol 

. Promotes sex shops and related services

. Promotes firearms or other weapons

. Links to a political or religious message

. Is in direct competition with a council service

In some areas further ethical issues also need to be considered (i.e.
where services, products or events are targeted at either young people or
certain vulnerable groups)

Paid for articles will be sourced via Sheffield First editorial board (see
Editorial Policy)

    
     9. The number of people employed to put your newspaper/newsletter
     together, including total cost and staff organisation chart

    One person has a client manager role in Sheffield City Council to
work with the company contracted to write, design and print each edition
    
     Some parts of this request may be easier to answer than others,
and
     should this prove to be the case I would ask that you release
     available data as soon as possible rather than hold up the entire
     request.
    
     I would prefer to receive this information electronically. If the
     decision is made to withhold some of this data using exemptions
in
     Act, please inform me of that fact and cite the exemptions used.
    
     If you need any clarification then please contact me at the
email.
     Under your section 16 duty to provide advice and assistance I
would
     expect you to contact me if you find this request unmanageable in
     any way.
    
     I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have
     received this request, and I look forward to hearing from you in
     the near future.

Deborah Stephenson - Team Leader

Communications and Campaigns Officer

Communications Service

Deputy Chief Executive's Team

Sheffield City Council

Room 302, Town Hall

Pinstone Street

Sheffield S1 2HH

Tel: 07920 723620

0114 20 53546

www.sheffield.gov.uk

Sheffield - Where Everyone Matters

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