A local newspaper has complained of being “snubbed” by David Cameron, just 24 hours after he apologised to a regional daily’s reporter over a similar issue.
Bedfordshire on Sunday journalist Stephen Penn had been told he would be allowed to put two questions to Mr Cameron prior to a visit to Bedford on Wednesday.
However, after making a speech, the Prime Minister said he had “little time” for questions and only took three – from the BBC, ITV and Sky News.
As reported on HTFP yesterday, Mr Cameron apologised to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner over complaints its journalists were treated with “disdain” by his entourage earlier this month.
David Cameron speaking at Wednesday’s event in Bedford
In a follow-up visit on Tuesday, he told the Examiner’s local government reporter Joanne Douglas an “administrative muck-up” had been to blame.
Following the incident in Bedford, a story appeared on the BoS website accusing Mr Cameron of “snubbing the local media,” an accusation which was later removed although the story confirms that no questions from local newspapers had been allowed.
Stephen told HTFP: “We were sent the invite on Tuesday for the event, and were asked to provide a question or two that we might ask.
“When we got there we were told there wasn’t time to answer many questions, and while he started the questions by inviting regional papers to come forward, he answered three – from the BBC, ITV and Sky News – that were there. Then he left.
“It seemed that the regional websites of the larger news bodies were looked upon higher than us as a local newspaper.
“It was disappointing that more time was not given for questions, but it was equally as disappointing to be overlooked in favour these three organisations, as we are unlikely to get the opportunity to ask these questions of the PM in this forum again ahead of the election.”
The new complaint comes as Paul Geater, political reporter at the East Anglian Daily Times, claimed he was told by Ben Gummer, Conservative candidate for Ipswich, that campaigners expected local newspaper reporters to be “19-year-olds who don’t understand the subject”.
In a column about visits to Ipswich by Transport Secretary Patrick McLaughlin and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Paul described Mr Hut’s visit as “a total farce”.
Paul, who is covering his sixth General Election, told HTFP: “It is really frustrating. They seem to have this contempt for local newspapers rather than other forms of the media. It is just irritating.”
Other criticisms of the Tories’ treatment of the regional press during the General Election campaign have come from the Nottingham Post, The Yorkshire Post and the Milton Keynes Citizen. The Conservative Party has yet to respond to HTFP’s requests for a comment on the issue.
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Kept the Guardian out of his trip with ‘good old Boris’ to the school the other day too. It’s not even subtle anymore.
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“19 year olds who don’t really understand the subject.” Or to put it another way, children often have a habit of asking awkward questions.
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“It seemed that the regional websites of the larger news bodies were looked upon higher than us as a local newspaper.”
That’s because they are.
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Vote labour then?
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Vote Labour or Green or TUSC…
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Some of the comments here touch on the truth of the situation. Local and even regional papers just don’t matter to the politicians any more. Get over it. Miliband visited my town the other day. He gave interviews to TV, dire as they were, because the stations broadcast the result on the news that night. Local paper did one pic and a six par comment piece. Who is going to matter most to them?
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Surely this is discrimination against newspapers by the Prime Minister. I recall him saying ‘We’re all in this together’ not so long ago.
If Mr Cameron was short of time, the fairest way would have been not to take questions at all or to have invited three questions: one from the national press, one from the local press and one from TV. But what does Mr Cameron and his team know about fairness? They never have and they never will.
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Regional press should absolutely matter to politicians – especially with the now thriving online newspaper presence. I’ve been a regional and global news agency reporter – the principles of fair media access remain the same. The Huddersfield Examiner/wider West Yorkshire area encompasses several marginal seats (Dewsbury, and others), so it should matter acutely to all parties how they engage with these voters.
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May I remind you that The Times print edition is bought by well under one per cent of the population? The Guardian is about the same. Even the Sun sells under two million – to less than one thirtieth of the British people. The Independent is bought by less than 0.05 per cent of the population. Its circulation is actually less than many regional evenings.
Even in their present diminished state, regionals and locals sell far more in their own patches than all the nationals put together.
You would expect the Tory Party’s slick PR boys to know all this.But as they’re all pillocks who rarely get north of Barnet, they don’t.
Another reason for voting UKIP.
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In there interests of accuracy, it’s worth pointing out that The Guardian’s print sale is actually half that of The Times.
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Please note ‘there’ should be ‘the’. My sub went home early.
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