"Downing Street's director of communications, Tim Allan, unveiled the plan on Thursday without consulting the group of political journalists known as the lobby who traditionally attend briefings twice a day to question the prime minister's spokesperson. Allan said the government would be reducing the briefings to one a day, and would sometimes replace the single briefing with a press conference. Held at 9 Downing Street, lobby briefings are on the record but not broadcast."
"Attendance at press conferences will also be widened to include content creators and sector journalists. Politico reported on Friday that at least one influencer has told it that in a previous interview with a government minister they were asked to pre-submit questions for approval and warned against going off subject matter."
The Society of Editors raised concerns that reducing No 10 lobby briefings risks weakening transparency and democratic accountability. Downing Street's director of communications announced cuts from two daily lobby briefings to one, with some to be replaced by press conferences, without consulting lobby journalists. Lobby briefings at 9 Downing Street are on the record, not broadcast, and allow unlimited questions on any topic. Press conferences typically offer fewer questions from selected reporters and will widen attendance to include content creators and sector journalists. Politico reported at least one influencer was asked to pre-submit questions and warned against straying off topic, reviving earlier scrutiny concerns after previous No 10 restrictions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]