Regional Newspapers
Debate between Simon Danczuk and John McDonnellWestminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
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Simon Danczuk
Absolutely. The message will have been received, I have no doubt. I will check Twitter shortly after I sit down to see whether the paper has picked up on that point.
Simon Danczuk
That ministerial instruction is extremely helpful and I appreciate it.
I was talking about the usefulness of being able to follow Twitter and see what is going on in Rochdale council meetings; but I have another example. Deborah Linton, a journalist on the Manchester Evening News is tweeting about the autumn statement to the people of Greater Manchester—taking politics out to people so that they can follow it and see what is going on. While I am talking about journalists I will mention Jennifer Williams, who works for the Manchester Evening News, and the recent Cyril Smith scandal. She has pursued that story and written well about it on several occasions. There is still excellent journalism—even if it is under the cosh, as my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) pointed out.
I want to mention Leveson briefly. If the national press had followed local press standards there is no doubt that we would not be in the position we are in now. The Rochdale Observer is always quick to make amends if there are inaccuracies in reports. It completely adheres to the requirements of the Press Complaints Commission. It is unfortunate that a small number of national journalists and press organisations have brought the industry into disrepute.
The people of Rochdale are immensely proud of their Rochdale Observer. I know that the Manchester Evening News, the Rochdale Observer and Trinity Mirror are opposed to statutory regulation, but I still feel that we need some statutory stick with which to push the media to behave themselves and get their house in order.