It seems that the Salford Labour Party is developing a unique new approach to media relations:
I’ll charitably ignore the terrible grammar, but this is a truly bizarre article and as it appears on the Salford Labour website I assume it has the blessing of the Labour leadership.
I’m sure all politicians of all political colours - both in local Government and at a national level - find the nature of press coverage to their distaste some of the time. I’m no different, although my only current beef with the Advertiser is their insistence on using a photo of me taken when I was 21… although perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing after all!
For Labour to throw their toys out of the pram in such spectacular fashion is not only completely counterproductive but is unfair and borders on abusive. From a personal perspective, all of the journalists I’ve ever dealt with at the Advertiser have been both friendly and professional, and I know that journalists in the local and regional press work long hours for an awful lot less money than the public think they earn.
Indeed, the political coverage of the Advertiser has improved immeasurably over the last few years, and their agreement to publish the weekly leader columns is to be greatly applauded.
As for the letters page, perhaps it hasn’t occured to my Labour colleagues that the vast majority of politically-orientated letters received by the Advertiser are in fact from local residents fed up of a Labour Council that takes them for granted and lets them down!
I saw the same article and was equally bemused by the childish outburst. It the same attitude I see so often toward the BBC - every party has a collection of people who think a particular media outlet is out to get them. This might be true in the case of the Red Tops, but we’ve all had both negative and positive press from the Advertiser. Sometimes it exasperates me when they don’t publish a story I think is important, sometimes they really impress me, but there’s no way that they are biased. You’re right - the letters page reflect what I’ve seen in survey returns and heard from residents in person.
The Salford Advertiser claims to be ‘apolitical’. This claim can be justified superficially but it is in no meaningful sense true. The Salford Advertiser is reasonably fair to the major established political parties (Lab/Con/LD) but the nature of ‘the political’ extends far beyond this. Therefore - on the basis of extensive evidence that I have seen over the last ten years - I have no doubt that the Salford Advertiser is highly political and heavily biased towards certain key people and its pet causes. It is unquestionably ‘liberal left-leaning’ and secular humanist - in keeping with its belonging to the Guardian Media Group - and is strongly driven by low culture populism and propaganda for public sector sources. Its political orthodoxy includes (amongst other things)… pro-multiculturalism, pro-homosexuality, anti- pro-life, anti-Christian etc.
I’m well acquainted with all the games the Advertiser plays and one of its best manipulation techniques - which it can only get away with because it has an effective monopoly on local news provision in Salford - is that old classic… ‘deception by omission’. The Advertiser simply refuses to give any ‘airtime’ to the [politically active] people and causes [with a political dimension] that it does not support (or is even deeply hostile to). I have a dossier of ignored ’stuff’ - letters, press releases, records of meetings with journalists etc - built up over the years (from myself and others) which very effectively proves who are the people and causes the Advertiser won’t give coverage to [and the ‘omission technique’ is only one of several ways in which this ostensibly apolitical paper manipulates the local news and political agenda]. The day may come when - if the Advertiser ever attempts another ‘hatchet job’ stunt on me such as the one it pulled several years ago - I will open up my dossier to comprehensively expose the paper for what it is.
Let me give you just one recent example: in the last month I have written to the paper twice as well as spoken to a journalist on the telephone and in person in the vain hope of having published either an article or a letter affording me the opportunity to publicise the pro-life stance on the current and highly controversial Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill… now I can think of few things more ‘newsworthy’ than animal/human hybrids but there must be some other [political] criteria being applied by the paper because I can’t get a word on the subject published [or is it just me personally the paper’s against?].
Salford Labour’s attitude to any form of opposition to me is troubling. To them opposition are ‘those against progress’, their attempts at real political dialouge with the people of this city is pitiful and now they turn against the press, all I can ask is what next? 1984 anyone?
Where’ve you been Martin? 1984 began in 1997!
I thought Online readers might be interested to know the current status of the actual build for MediaCity:UK in Salford Quays as of March 25th (12pm), 2008.
The site now consists of 11 cranes with a reported 9 more on the way (12th crane base in place). Most of the concrete cores of the new BBC building look to be in place or started, rising to 9-10 storeys (maybe more) for the highest cores. The cores are currently being surrounded by concrete pillars up to 5-6 storeys currently. There are upto 400 workers on site currently with a proposed 1000+ to be posted eventually with 20 cranes in all (according to unconfirmed reports from workers on-site).
The land for the taller buildings off to the side of the main BBC building (right from the Lowry Centre side) is still being dug and prepared but more temporary cabins are in place off Broadway (the road that runs through the back of the Quays) presumably to house more MediaCity:UK project staff and a contingent of the BBC (cameramen) looking at the latest articles across the internet.
The current phase of the build occupies 35-40 acres (next to the City Lofts flats) with other phases planned across the water on the Imperial War Museum side.
The overall site is something of the order of 200 acres but no visible signs of development has started outside the main phase 1 area currently. No doubt this will depend on discussions with other media companies being persuaded to join the MediaCity:UK estate.
For a photographic timeline for December / February and beyond (and pictures back to May of last year), go to Google and search on ‘BBC Salford Quays Approved - Media City : UK whitfield’ in Google or goto ‘www.mawhitfield.co.uk/mcuk.htm’.
Judging be the pace of the development, there is a big push on to meet the 2010/11 date for the first phase completion.
Those currently thinking about a career in the media by way of a chosen degree (media studies, photography etc.) might be one of the 15,500 new jobs to be created between now and 2011 in the first phase of this build. Also, the price of properties (and especially flats) in the area will almost certainly rise as a result of the considerable development occuring in this location with new flats being built currently.
I have worked as an IT Manager in Salford Quays for 12 years and live in North Bolton. When I first came here, the skyline of the Quays area was relatively flat but now houses such buildings as The Designer Outlet (80 outlet stores), The iconic Lowry and Imperial War Museum Buildings and new flat developments which continue to be built in anticipation of the BBC move and general growth in this area.
Hope this update helps.