Earlier this month, Hillingdon Council informed MyLondon that neither its press office nor its Cabinet Members would be engaging anymore with Philip James Lynch (PJ) – our Local Democracy Reporter covering Hillingdon – due to what they see as “political bias” in his coverage.
While MyLondon sees that decision as aggressive, unnecessary and akin to a toddler tantrum, it signals to us that PJ is doing an effective job at holding the West London council to account, and it’s uncomfortable for them.
In recent years there’s been a criticism of local news that it’s not doing enough to hold power to account.
With the changing media landscape there was a feeling that councils were getting away with little scrutiny of how they are spending taxpayers’ money, how councillors are behaving or how decisions are being made.
That’s exactly why the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) was set up. The BBC-funded scheme ensures every council has a reporter watching them, whose job it is to write stories about what they are doing, and ask questions about whether they are operating effectively.
Since our inception, we at MyLondon have consistently held the city’s councils and other publicly-funded bodies to account. So much so that when the LDRS contracts were retendered recently we won 9 out of the 12 available in London, covering 24 of the 33 local authorities as well as the Greater London Authority. We still scrutinise the other nine councils through our other reporters.
Fair and balanced
PJ’s coverage of all three of the councils he’s responsible for monitoring is a textbook example of what the LDRS was set up to do. He’s recently exposed how Labour-run Hounslow Council spent about ÂŁ3,000 on fish and chips at two Mayor’s charity quiz nights, prompting questions about whether that’s a good use of taxpayer money.
He’s run a series of stories on the uproar locally at Labour-run Ealing Council’s decision to close 10 children’s centres at a time when the national Labour government is saying they are vital for kids’ development.
And in Hillingdon he exposed how the Conservative-run council had made ÂŁ1 million in payments to a company linked to its Cabinet Member for Finance, sparking calls for the Cabinet to answer questions about whether those transactions were transparent and appropriate.
All three councils face serious scrutiny through PJ’s excellent journalism. Only one is claiming he’s politically biased.
The complaint from Hillingdon Council’s press office followed a mirror-image complaint from Hillingdon Conservatives’ Chief Whip two months before. The press office is supposed to be apolitical but we find it concerning how closely aligned it appears to be with the local Conservative group.
The story that sparked the initial complaint of bias was one on a misleading Tory campaign leaflet that claimed Cowley Recreation Ground was under threat.
Appearing to have spent time combing back through PJ’s Facebook page, the Tory group found a photo of him from when he was 17 which had a ‘vote Labour’ frame around it. Proof, they screamed, that his stories are politically motivated.
This photo has subsequently been posted by anonymous accounts under several of PJ’s stories, claiming he’s politically biased. The persistent nature of this, attempting to discredit any stories that cast the local Tory group or council in a bad light, amounts to online harassment.
We don’t know who it is behind those anonymous accounts but it shows the online landscape our journalists are having to navigate; at a time when fake news is rife, quality journalism is called out by those who don’t like it as fake or biased.
When a council takes the same line as those unscrupulous anonymous accounts with no evidence, it’s deeply troubling.
No evidence of political bias
When MyLondon and our parent company Reach plc employ LDRs we ensure they are not members of a political party, which PJ is not. A decision he made when he was 17 to support a political party with a Facebook post is not relevant.
Before that he did work experience on a Conservative election campaign in sixth form.
Journalists are entitled to vote like anyone else. Our responsibility is to ensure that our own opinions don’t guide how we approach our work. There’s no evidence PJ is motivated by anything other than a desire to do his job well.
PJ has gone to great lengths to try and work with the Conservative administration at Hillingdon Council, putting in multiple requests for help to run positive stories or ones that highlight issues they face that are beyond their control. This includes requests for a first look around major housing developments, and shining a light on the difficult position the council is in regarding the disproportionate number of refugees it has to house, and the pressure that puts on local housing.
Almost every request to work with them on content that would portray the council and Conservative group in a good light has been totally ignored without even the courtesy of a reply. That doesn’t mean we won’t run those stories, but it’s a lot harder to do without any access.
Whatever political party is in charge will naturally get more scrutiny. The Tories are making the decisions in Hillingdon so they are under the microscope – as Labour are in Ealing and Hounslow.
We will not stop looking closely at what any of those three councils are doing. If Hillingdon refuse to reply to PJ’s requests for comment, they’re just making it harder to ensure balance. We will still do everything we can to make sure our stories are fair and balanced.
But honestly Hillingdon Council, grow up.
Stay informed about the latest West London news. Sign up for our MyWestLondon newsletter HERE to receive daily updates and more.
