CRUMBRIA: 24/05/2025: EXCLUSIVE
AS he reflects on the role of the local media in democracy, The Chronic’s Secret Councillor “Neville Waffle” says he has stopped forking out money on local papers.
Admission of The Press: The Secret Councillor
By Cllr Neville Waffle
Once upon a time, my local paper would send different reporters to our council meetings.
But all of them came with notepads and pens poised, and tough questions.
Crucially, they all seemed to have a clue about what was actually going on.
They seemed to know the budget from the bluster and the scandals from the spin.
Some of them even read the agenda!
Now, more often than not, if they turn up at all, some sit there, blinking, barely listening, constantly looking at their phone, and only lifting up their head when someone says something vaguely dramatic.
Usually, it’s one of my Council’s usual suspects who’s figured out how to get his/her name in the paper when the local press is in.
I’ve sat through more Council meetings than I care to count. But what really started to keep me awake wasn’t what happened in the meetings — it’s what got reported afterwards.
Or more importantly, what didn’t!
From what I’m told, it’s only got worse.
That’s why I stopped buying our local papers a long time ago.
Once, our local paper had a reporter who knew the ward boundaries better than half the assistant directors. She’d sit through the full meeting — yes, the full thing —and would always corner at least three Members afterwards in the chamber. Either that, or she’d be waiting in the corridor behind a pillar and would pounce.
Let’s call her Tracy.
“Did you get Tracied?” we’d laugh afterwards in the Members Room!
Tracy was nobody’s friend and she’d ask things we didn’t want asking and find out things that the Council didn’t want coming out, but we liked the sport! She would then scurry off and write something worth reading.
We all feared Tracy and I know for a fact the senior management did. She was a regular agenda item when the then boss sat down with the Comms Team and there was a small, unofficial leaving party for her when we found out she’d left the paper!
All I’m going to say is that what we’re facing these days is very, very different.
And don’t get me started on our Comms Team. Once upon a time they helped journalists understand Local Government and walked them through it. Once the local media changed hands and gave up, the Comms Team re-applied their resources to posting on social media, creating videos, updating the website and various comms plans.
Little dictators with a sweet smile, some are. You want a comment? Go through them. Got a tough question? You’ll have to FOI it!
But please accept this long statement about how the Council “remains committed to delivering quality services!”
Local journalism is supposed to be the watchdog of our democracy. We need strong local papers and good journalists who show up, dig deep, and aren’t afraid to embarrass us when we deserve it.
And believe me, there’s stuff going on right now in Cumbria that we need to be embarrassed about!
If the public knew some of the things being said at certain meetings, what was getting agreed, who was absent, who actually voted which way on what…well, the newspapers might be worth buying, we might actually have a bit more civic engagement and we’d certainly have a whole lot more participation by voters in our Local Elections!
Democracy doesn’t suddenly die in a dramatic coup — it withers quietly on the vine in unchallenged decisions, a lack of public accountability and reporters who don’t seem over keen on rocking the boat.
And yes, I’m still foolish enough to think it matters.
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