Election journalism

The NUJ journalists’ union has been contacting the major parties to seek assurances that journalists will be granted fair access to events.

The move comes after the union received reports from local newspapers and members at the BBC that reporters and photographers are being denied access or are being blocked from asking the questions they know their local readers and viewers want to hear.

NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “We have received reports of the heavy-handed treatment from the spin doctors of the prime minister’s entourage on a number of events on the election trail.”

According to the union, journalists on the Huddersfield Daily Examiner said they were “treated with disdain” during a visit by the prime minister to their patch. The newspaper’s local government correspondent said she was not allowed to join David Cameron’s tour of a factory in the marginal Colne Valley constituency.

She was eventually given one minute of his time. The reporter from the Yorkshire Post, covering the same event, received similar treatment.

Meanwhile, reporters on the Nottingham Post said they were prevented from asking questions on local issues, such as NHS waiting times and the county’s allocation of the Better Care Fund which provides funding for local health and social care services.

“Election events should reflect the hurly burly of political debate and not be reduced to patronising photo-calls,” said Stanistreet.

https://www.nuj.org.uk/news/nuj-statement-on-media-access-to-covering-the-general-election