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Nicholas Jones has spent forty years chronicling the news media’s relationship with politicians, trade union leaders and other prominent people.

He is an active campaigner in groups which promote high journalistic standards and the widest possible spread of media ownership.

There could hardly be a more opportune moment to widen the debate about the need to restore trust in the political process.  Press freedom is an essential cornerstone of Britain's democratic traditions and it imposes responsibilities on both journalists and the government of the day.

This archive provides:

o A first-hand insight into the often hidden world inhabited by those who control the flow of information from the state to the public.

o An explanation of the way in which governments and political parties seek to communicate via newspapers, television, radio and the internet.

o An ongoing critique about a worrying decline in journalistic standards.

o A persuasive argument as to why ensuring that all sections of the media have equal access to the same information at the same time would help restore trust and strengthen the democratic process.

As the author of a range of books which tackle this critical subject, including Strikes and the Media (1986), Soundbites and Spin Doctors (1995), Sultans of Spin (1999) and Trading Information: Leaks, Lies and Tip-offs(2006), Jones hopes his archive of articles, speeches and book reviews will provide a valuable resource not only for students of politics and the media but also for any organisation or individual seeking to devise a communications strategy.

After serving a long apprenticeship on local and national newspapers (The News, Portsmouth, Oxford Mail and The Times), Jones spent thirty years as a BBC industrial and political correspondent (1972-2002).

As perhaps was only to be expected, once he began writing and commentating on how politicians manipulate the media - and vice versa - Jones incurred the wrath of political spin doctors, government information officers and journalists themselves. Many resent his ongoing attempt to penetrate the elusive, off-the-record encounters and liaisons which over the years have proved so mutually beneficial to aspiring journalists and up-and-coming politicians.

Nonetheless, despite being regarded by both sides as a nuisance, Jones believes that by the simple act of seeking to be inclusive rather than selective in the distribution of data, and allowing equal access not just to the media but also to pressure groups, bloggers and the like, the state could reinvigorate what Clem Attlee always hoped would be the people’s “conscious and active participation in public affairs”.

Jones has been a life-long member of the National Union of Journalists (1960); he sits on the national council of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom ; is a supporter of Mediawise ; and a trustee of the Journalists’ Charity (chairman 2005-6).

He writes on media affairs for a wide range of publications, including Free Press, the magazine of the CPBF and the website Spinwatch, which monitors pr and spin.

Latest Articles
Gordon Brown should "clean up" his act on leaks and spin Print E-mail
Gordon Brown has been given the clearest warning that it is time he and his ministers cleaned up their act and stopped the advance leaking of government announcements. A House of Lords committee says the Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues have it in their power to rein in the Labour spin doctors who are ignoring the ministerial code of practice and leaking confidential statements and data to friendly journalists. As a first step towards restoring trust in government information, the Prime Minister should agree to the immediate televising of Downing Street lobby briefings which could be broadcast live on the Downing Street website.  After reviewing the failure of previous attempts to curb abuses of the system by politically-appointed special advisers, the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications says in a report (published 26.1.2009) that there is no excuse for continued breaches of the rules and the frequent pre-empting of government announcements.  The committee concludes that the leaking of ministerial announcements to “friendly” journalists has undermined the public’s trust in the “accurate and impartial communication” of government information.  Ministers and particularly their special advisers – who have doubled in number under the Blair and Brown governments – should be reminded that their codes of conduct stipulate that announcements should be made first to Parliament. The aim should be to ensure that opposition parties, MPs, journalists and the public all get the information “at the same time”.  If Downing Street lobby briefings by the Prime Minister’s official spokesman were televised and transmitted live on the No.10 website, it would help to dispel continuing myths about secrecy of the Westminster lobby system which has become a “barrier to openness” and which continues to create a sense that there is “an inner circle of political reporters who get access to government information denied to others”.  Lord Fowler, chairman of the committee, recalled Brown’s promise on becoming Prime Minister to end the culture of spin and ensure statements were made to parliament first. “There should be no question of ministers giving policy decisions in advance to favoured journalists or newspapers. Brown should now remind his ministers of the requirements in the ministerial code”. Nicholas Jones was among the political journalists who gave evidence to the Committee and his comments and recommendations (made with the support of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom and www.spinwatch.org ) are highlighted in the main body of the committee’s report.   Jones argued that the “practice of trailing government announcements in advance -- almost invariably on an off-the-record basis – has now become institutionalised within Whitehall”.  He recommended the “flow of information from the state to the media should be de-politicised” and that “all news providers should have equal access” – a view which the select committee endorses. On the question of opening up the Westminster lobby, Jones criticised the failure of the Government to follow through previous recommendations that the Downing Street lobby briefings should be held on-camera.  Jones argued that the televising of briefings would introduce a sense of discipline among information officers and journalists because it might help curb the growth in un-attributable and anonymous briefings which had damaged politicians and the standing of political journalism. END    
 
Online television freed from European interference Print E-mail
 

British media proprietors and regulators seem confident they have made sure that the UK’s development of online television will remain out of reach of interference by the European Union.

Internet services which are considered to be "television-like" could face control under the terms of the European audio-visual directive which takes effect as from January 2009. But the British newspaper owners – backed by the Press Complaints Commission and Ofcom – believe that the rapidly expanding audio-visual output of their websites will escape European control.
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Labour’s hypocrisy over leaks and Damian Green’s arrest Print E-mail

Labour cannot shrug off the charge of hypocrisy over the arrest of the Conservative shadow minister Damian Green because under the Blair and Brown governments successive Home Secretaries have engaged in the deliberate and systematic leaking of their own decisions in order to gain political advantage.

Jacqui Smith’s private office at the Home Office was no different to any other in Whitehall. Right across the various government departments, Labour’s political spin doctors have shown scant regard for the confidentiality of ministerial announcements and they have regularly been trailed in advance through leaks to sympathetic journalists.
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Changing political landscape: hastened by switch online Print E-mail

Nicholas Jones explained in a speech to the Hansard Society (27.11.2008) why the growing migration to the web will change the British political landscape come the next general election.

 

When I was invited a couple of months ago to give my thoughts on the “Changing Political Landscape” who would have thought that I would be talking to you in a week when the Westminster waters parted and we saw opening up the clearest political dividing lines for a decade or more between Labour and the Conservatives. “Let battle commence” seemed to be the cry of both Alistair Darling and George Osborne. We are firmly on the countdown to a general election which will eventually offer a clear choice between spending our way out of the recession with higher public debt or by curbing state expenditure in order to limit the size of that looming tax bombshell.

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Confusing small print: a challenge to journalists Print E-mail

Nicholas Jones spoke at a rally at the House of Commons (17.11.2008) in support of the drive by the Plain English Campaign to win wider support for the Small Print Bill. The aim is to help vulnerable people who miss out on compensation because of confusing small print. One of the aims is to ensure a minimum size for the print used in guarantees, contracts etc. Jones described the “love hate” relationship between journalists and those campaigning for plain speaking and writing.

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Self-regulation of political lobbying “blown to bits” in Westminster debate. Print E-mail

Self regulation for political lobbying is currently the only show in town but the demand that lobbyists should be allowed to continue policing themselves was blown to bits at a Guy Fawkes’ night debate at the Houses of Parliament.
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Is Cameron cosying up to Murdoch with his BBC bashing? Print E-mail

After the revelation that during the August holidays David Cameron paid a hitherto secret visit to Rupert Murdoch’s yacht off the Greek Islands, there have been more tell-tale signs that the Conservative leader is cosying up to the Murdoch press. In a signed article for the Sun (3.11.2008), Cameron was firmly on message in a double-page spread: “Tory chief hits out -- Bloated BBC out of touch with viewers”. Cameron hit all the right buttons: the licence fee should be reduced and the argument that the BBC needed to attract large audiences was “bogus”. But more importantly Cameron sided with Murdoch in arguing that the BBC should stop abusing its position by trying to compete with newspaper websites. Because of their heavy investment in online services -- some of which are beginning to make money -- it is essential from the Murdoch perspective that there should be no effective competition from the BBC. Cameron delivered just the line that he knew would appeal to Murdoch: “The squeezing and crushing or commercial competitors online or in publishing needs to be stopped”. Nicholas Jones says Cameron and his communications director Andy Coulson (just named pr professional of 2008) need no lessons on how to woo the Murdoch press: Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell blazed that self-same trail in the 1990s:

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Remembrance Sunday: a journalist’s troubling flashbacks Print E-mail

When Shami Chakrabarti appeared on stage wearing a red poppy to accept her award as 2008 communicator of the year, she triggered flashbacks which trouble me every year. Why was a civil rights campaigner the only winner at the annual PR Week awards dinner (Grosvenor House, 21.10.2008) to wear a poppy? What was the director of Liberty trying to say two and a half weeks before Remembrance Sunday?
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“Carry on leaking”: Cabinet Secretary powerless to act Print E-mail

Advance leaking of government announcements by ministers and their political spin doctors is a fact of life which the Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell admits the civil service has to live with.

He told the House of Lords Communications Committee (22.10.2008) that he understood that journalists wanted to look forward and pre-view government announcements and he accepted that ministers and their political advisers were giving private briefings to political correspondents all the time.

“The media want to jump the gun and be ahead of the game…I recognise the evidence about briefings being given off-the-record”.
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Should the internet be regulated? Self-regulation will have its downside. Print E-mail

 

Those who argue for an unregulated free-for-all on the internet are in danger of becoming the cheer leaders for Rupert Murdoch, the Conservative Party and host of other multi-national businesses whose sole interest is to exploit the commercial potential of the web.

Newspaper websites are now moving big time into internet television and the ability of media proprietors to buy up exclusive audio-visual material is already enticing viewers away from mainstream broadcasters and undermining their viability.
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