Forum Topic

The Ealing Gazette and the Labour Party: The price of silence?

There front cover of the Ealing Gazette this week is an advertisement for the campaigns of Sadiq Khan and Dr Onkar Sahota. If you look carefully you will see in tiny tiny letters in the bottom right hand corner that it is an ad rather than an editorial endorsement.I don't necessarily have a problem with the ad as such - all parties will be doing likewise in other areas and I presume wouldn't turn down money from UKIP, the Tories or Lib Dems if it was on offer.What does give me some misgivings is that the Gazette seems more and more to be the house paper of the Council and the Labour party. Dr Sahota's property dealings have been ignored as far as I'm aware, the coverage of Julian Bell's housing arrangements have been minimal and I don't recall much on Heller House. The Labour Party also had a similar ad at the time of the election and if you include the Council directed advertising they will be by far and away the biggest client. The question is can we now rely on the paper to effectively scrutinise those in power in the local area.

Paul Cavanagh ● 3567d2 Comments

Whilst it is clearly unhealthy that the Gazette should be overdependent on the Council and a political party for revenue that has not stopped them reporting negative stories about the Council. If anyone is to blame for the current situation it is the local business community who should have been bidding up the price of this wraparound on the local paper. A broader revenue base would leave the paper less vulnerable to political pressure and allow for more investment in journalism.The bias that Phil Taylor refers to may be nothing more than a lack of resources. There is huge pressure on journalists these days to produce stories quickly and in volume so recycling a press release is often the quickest way to reach their target. Getting balancing quotes slows the process down and doesn't necessarily add to the amount of people that read the item.

Andy Jones ● 3566d

The Gazette does not rush to challenge Labour and is slow to quote opposition voices.  It is part of Mirror Group Newspapers after all and does rely on the council for much of its ad income.  Only last week it put a totally bogus petition on its front page with extensive quotes from two Labour MPs and an ex-Labour councillor.  No quotes from any other political party.  more here:http://philtaylor.org.uk/2016/04/gazette-falls-for-bogus-ealing-hospital-petition/

Phil Taylor ● 3566d