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The publisher of the Nottingham Post has spoken of an “increasingly Trumpian approach” to the media creeping into British politics, amid a Reform-led council’s continuing ban against the title.
The 150-year-old paper, as well as its website, Nottinghamshire Live, have been prevented from speaking to Reform’s Nottingham county council leader, Mick Barton, while he has also prevented the titles from receiving updates and press releases.
David Higgerson, the chief content officer for Reach, the owner of the Daily Mirror and a series of local titles including the Nottingham Post, said it was part of a trend that went wider than Reform.
He said: “The relationship between politicians and journalists isn’t always a comfortable one, but it is essential in a functioning democracy that all parties open themselves up to basic scrutiny.
“When journalists are blocked from doing their job, it’s not just a concern for the media – it’s a concern for the public. Over the last few years we’ve seen this increasingly Trumpian approach creep in – and not only from Reform politicians – where legitimate questions are met with hostility or silence.”
While Reform’s treatment of the Nottingham titles has been the highest-profile case of its type, there have been other recent examples of local authorities across the country accused of freezing out journalists.
Over the summer, a BBC-funded local democracy reporter (LDR) in London said he had been effectively barred by Conservative-run Hillingdon council, due to what it regarded as “political bias” in his reporting.
It followed a complaint of bias after a story about an allegedly misleading Tory campaign leaflet that claimed a local recreation ground was under threat.
Hillingdon council said it had not barred the reporter but “raised concerns about the balance of coverage”, stating it felt it had not been approached fairly for comment. “Following positive dialogue with the publication, the council will continue to engage with the reporter and has been doing so for the past five weeks,” it said.
Earlier this month, Emily Price, news editor at the website Nation.Cymru, said “Engaging with Reform UK’s politicians and comms operation has become more and more arduous – particularly over the last few months.” She said it included threats of legal action.
In 2022, a coalition of local media joined forces to oppose the exclusion of LDRs from briefings by Labour’s former Bristol mayor Marvin Rees. The row led to a boycott of the meetings by other local media, including the BBC, BristolLive and BristolWorld.
Repeated attempts have been made to resolve the ban of the Nottingham Post. However, last week Reform’s councillors blocked an attempt to debate the paper’s treatment at a council meeting.
Higgerson said: “Nottinghamshire Live is by far the best-read news source in Nottinghamshire and also read by millions more across the UK. I know our teams there will continue to rigorously report on their patch, but it is worrying that Reform have not yet found a way to move forward from this ban, to allow the people of Nottinghamshire clear sight of how the council is performing.”
The Nottingham Post’s editor, Natalie Fahy, has said the saga has served as a warning over how a future Reform government might treat the media.
In an article published on Friday, Fahy said she had been left speechless by Reform councillors, who blocked a debate about the council’s treatment of the paper from being discussed.
“I see now how politicians think they can play the system to avoid a discussion on something that could be embarrassing for them,” she said.
