Unwise to be so tetchy with Press
IT’S NO secret that Jeremy Corbyn has never been a fan of the so-called mainstream media. Back in 2015, during his first conference as the newly-elected leader of the Labour Party he calledoff a whole afternoon of Press interviews following a particularly tetchy exchange during his morning broadcast rounds.
But as political tensions have escalated in response to the two critical by-elections in Stoke and Copeland, so it seems has the bad blood between the Labour leadership and the Press. And never has this been more evident than during a Q&A yesterday when Mr Corbyn took just three questions from the media – ironically all from major news channels.
Yes, the media can be hostile. But arguably this isn’t limited to celebrities and politicians; reporters and commentators frequently find themselves the target of their fellow journalists. And it is true that absolutely no one benefits – not the media, nor the public – when a journalist or broadcaster allows their ego to get in the way of a line of fair and astute questioning.
However, if you arrange a Press Q&A the morning after two high-profile contests in your party’s heartlands, you have to be prepared for a bit of a grilling when you lose one. Holding public figures to account is a crucial part of a journalist’s job and a democratic society. And looking at it from a purely political perspective, trying to close down questioning – or as we saw yesterday, trotting out Trump-esque lines about the vested interests of corporate media outlets – only risks making you look weak.