The decision comes after the Liberal Democrats have come under fire in recent weeks for distributing fake “titles” including the Hallamshire Herald in Sheffield and Wokingham Focus in Berkshire the Westmorland Today in parts of Cumbria and Eden Gazette in the Penrith and Eden area. The Conservative Party was also criticised last year for using the name of the defunct ‘Lincoln Chronicle’ title to communicate with residents in Lincoln as well as fictional titles such as the ‘Stroud, Valleys and Vale Chronicle’.
Looking to upcoming elections including an anticipated General Election later this year, the Executive Director of the Society of Editors has spoken out and said that it will call out parties and candidates who continue to use this practice.
She said: “The Society of Editors has long campaigned against political parties using fake newspapers to promote their candidates in election periods. Not only does this absurd practice damage democracy and undermine public trust in both politics and the news media, it is also insulting to the electorate who are not stupid and expect officials and candidates to communicate with them in an open and transparent manner.
“Ahead of elections later this year including a General Election, we have written to representatives of all political parties urging them to put an end to this mimicry as well as vowing to name and shame those who continue to attempt to pull the wool over voters’ eyes.
“The news media plays a vital role in a democracy, and, during election periods, journalists are essential in helping to communicate party policies to the public. Instead of employing vast time and effort into brazen deception, parties should instead look to highlight and promote the work of the actual local press as a trusted source of news and information to the public.”
The society of editors calling out of the fake news titles by political parties comes after the impress a press regulator also challenged political parties over the fake news titles used in campaigning.
Impress Chief Executive Officer Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana has written to representatives of major political parties alerting them to the danger of disguising campaigning materials as legitimate newspapers.
“For democracy to flourish, it is essential that we have a thriving, healthy and trusted news media ecosystem. To achieve this, collaboration and transparency is needed between news organisations, the public and politicians.”
“It is entirely disheartening then to see the latter groups continuing to engage in the practice of distributing campaigning materials under the guise of local newspapers, misleading voters into believing what they are reading is the work of local journalists from independent publications.”
Impress asked all political parties, to carefully review this practice among their candidates moving forward and the negative impact it has on politics, journalism, and democracy.
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