Under pressure local newspapers can heave a sigh of relief as former communities and local government secretary, Sir Eric Pickles, is inching closer to victory in his battle to put a stop to town hall Pravdas after the last council newsletter to be published in defiance of government laws is to cease weekly publication from June.
Pravda is a term used for a Russian daily newspaper, founded in 1912 and from 1918 to 1991 was the official organ of the Soviet Communist Party. It was used as a propaganda machine to spread pro-communist views.
Greenwich Time, the official publication of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, will no longer be published weekly after being issued with a directive to print no more than quarterly.
Other London authorities, including Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest were also issued with the directive not to publish more than quarterly.
For years local newspapers have been feeling the pinch because of free council-funded papers, which, according to them, are unfair competition to local newspapers and also divert money from important council services.
The irony is many councils employ journalists who have lost local newspaper jobs.
