Police PR reform call

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by HoldtheFrontPage Staff Published 25 Jun 2007

Johnston Press editors are being urged to write to Home Secretary David Blunkett calling for talks between police chiefs, senior media managers and newspaper editors to review the role of police press officers.

The move comes after a survey for the company found “widespread discontent” over the work of the PROs and their release of information on crimes.

Johnston is to tackle the problem with backing from the Society of Editors, which has long called for easier access to such information, either through partnership or policy.

Sixty-six editors responded to the survey, representing 80 of the Johnston Press weekly, evening and free titles around the country.

It found:

80 per cent of editors felt coverage of crime had either got worse or stayed the same as a result of police press office growth;

65 per cent of Johnston Press editors reported they do not receive details of smaller incidents from police press officers;

50 per cent of the editors who responded did not have regular meetings with local officers/press officers;

Almost half of the editors could not get access to someone from the police for details outside of normal office hours.

The survey was carried out by Tim Robinson, managing editor of Welland Valley Newspapers (North) and Rob Gibbard, editor of the Buckingham and Winslow Advertiser Group, who presented the results to the annual Johnston conference, attended by 180 senior staff.

The survey found that press office policies differ from force to force, so the Johnston editors are asking for a re-defining of national guidelines for all forces, particularly over use of the Data Protection Act.

The editors are also being asked to individually press for better communication on a local level between the media and police forces.

Tim Bowdler, chief executive of Johnston Press and President of the Newspaper Society, told delegates at the Society of Editors’ conference in York last week that The Data Protection Act has resulted in far too much factual information being classified, often by police forces, as sensitive personal data, undermining the public’s right to know.

He also highlighted the growing culture of secrecy with many organisations, including the police, employing “battalions of press officers” to manage the news.

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