I wish political journalists felt as zealous about their role in society as I do. If you're trying to hold a party to account but their behaviour keeps getting worse, what you're doing isn't working.
A thread on ways in which @CCHQPress is spitting in the face of journalism:
A thread on ways in which @CCHQPress is spitting in the face of journalism:
1) Eschewing proper use of spokespersons in favour of anonymous briefings that frequently turn out to misleading.
Instead of refusing to participate in this shift away from accountability, journalists appear to be competing to be the hand-picked purveyor of this propaganda.
Instead of refusing to participate in this shift away from accountability, journalists appear to be competing to be the hand-picked purveyor of this propaganda.
2) Refusing to give interviews to C4 News. The Tory boycott of C4 serves as a threat to other broadcasters - "don't be too critical of us or you'll lose access too"
theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/bo…
theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/bo…
3) Refusing to confirm details of stories. @CCHQPress consistently refuse to confirm the details of any aspect of their Islamophobia complaints procedures, despite claiming it to be 'transparent' and having no justifiable reason not to. See more here:
4) Pretending to be a fact-checking service at a time when fake news online is a matter of grave concern. Many people struggle to identify reputable news sources online, and this can only diminish trust in legitimate fact checkers, which are vital.
theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
5) Editing a video of Keir Starmer from TV to make it appear he was unable to answer a question. Using video editing to distort a piece of genuine footage is a dangerous precedent.
theguardian.com/media/2019/nov…
theguardian.com/media/2019/nov…
6) Editing a BBC headline for a Twitter advert to give a misleading summary of the article. Unfortunately, many people do not click links to articles. The Tories relied on this to fact to create 'fake news' in the most literal sense.
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-496903…
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-496903…
Each of these things was called out at the time, but what happened next? Doesn't 'holding to account' imply some kind of consequence for transgression?
@CCHQPress clearly feels that the media won't properly defend themselves against these Trumpian tactics. I really hope they do
@CCHQPress clearly feels that the media won't properly defend themselves against these Trumpian tactics. I really hope they do
