The Dumbarton Democrat
We have the best coverage of local politics in West Dunbartonshire. Our newspaper is edited by Bill Heaney, who has a hat trick of Scotland’s Weekly Journalist of the Year awards. THAT’S BECAUSE, LIKE YOU, WE ARE LOCAL. We are banned by the local council though from speaking to their communications officers, which is most probably as it should be since it is our role in life to hold truth to persons in power. We treat this small minded ban as a badge of honour. They prefer secrecy. We prefer openness and transparency. We are not biased. Politicians are biased by their very nature. The council’s highly paid chief officers have a reputation for bullying their staff. They’re not very nice to us either. And they’re not too friendly to the public who do them the favour of paying attention to what they have to say, although often that is nonsense. There is an election coming. Although it is for the Scottish Parliament on May 7 and not the Council, which is a pity. We have too many members of the Council who don’t deliver enough for what they are paid (by us, you and me) who pay too much for the services we receive. We are short changed at every turn. It would be of great assistance to democracy though if all the political parties kept us informed of what is going on in our community. When they deprive The Dumbarton Democrat of comment and information and even attendance at their meetings (yes, they have done that in the past), they deprive you of the very same as me. Communications is part of what you pay for in your council tax. The Council’s attitude is more akin to that of Iran or Russia or, dare I say it, Germany when it was fascist. But that can and will change with good will on all sides.
If you are new to The Dumbarton Democrat we can inform you that this week our news platform has achieved an average of 4,700 views and visitors over the past seven days. We range between around 5,000 and 19,000 of these from day to day depending on our content. Think of the shoe leather that would save political canvassers and campaigners. No need for so many leaflets. No requirement for all that bumph. Send your stories, press releases and pictures plus ads for local events, again they will appear FREE, by e mail to heaneymedia@btinternet.com and access us absolutely FREE at democratonline.net
Bill Heaney, Editor/Owner, The Dumbarton Democrat