Informed 03


supporter at all. I said, ‘It’s nice to see you, but why are you here?’ And she said, ‘Well, I read in the papers that you are completely evil.’ She had come to see if I had horns! So some of the media stuff was so ridiculous it is just laughable.” Less laughable was the treatment he


“What the Sun did was outgrageous”


with a picture of me from 1967 at the Young Socialists’ first and only annual dinner with Anthony Greenwood, then a cabinet minister, speaking. It has me standing there looking ever so serious at the age of 18 with two young women – one of whom I am still in touch with – who came to that Telford rally.” He is from a Guardian-reading household, but says he acquired his taste for current affairs doing that paper round on his bicycle. “I delivered Sunday newspapers, so I read them all. I would cycle nine or 10 miles every Sunday delivering probably 100 papers.” Perhaps it was this early immersion in print media that made him a keen defender of journalism – at times against the odds. He completely rejects recent calls for various BBC journalists to be sacked and says that his supporters should do the same. He does, however, detect in the print media’s approach to politics something that helps to explain Labour’s success. “Support for Labour is highest among those who take their news from social media, and lowest among those who


Sunderland Shields and Hartlepool branch event


access news from only newspapers. It’s more balanced among those who primarily access news from television and radio news – which is mainly the middle-aged,” he said. “Te print media have not been


particularly fair to me or to Labour. Broadcast media coverage has varied greatly. We have had issues with various parts of BBC broadcasting, although I am a strong supporter of the BBC and a licence fee. In the election campaign what fundamentally changed was our intensive use of social media and a very good social-media team. Broadcasting rules mean that, instead of talking about political process, we got more of a hearing and were able to shiſt the focus of the debate.” He ignores personal criticism and abuse: “I don’t reply. I don’t respond. I don’t engage. I am not geting in the guter with anyone,” he said. “A woman came to a rally in the


north east. She was clearly not a strong Labour supporter, if a Labour


received from Te Sun. “What Te Sun did on polling day was just outrageous,” he said with an angry chill in his voice. Te front page had encouraged readers not to ‘chuck Britain in the Corbin’ followed by 12 splenetic pages ridiculing Labour and promoting the Tories. Te Labour leader appeared to be pained more than anything by the abuse heaped on his colleague Diane Abbot. He said: “She told me that if she had known what was coming when she started in politics, she’s not sure she would have gone ahead and done it.” Could the result of the election indicate that the political might of the right- wing tabloids is a busted flush?


“Totally,” he said. “I saw an opinion poll saying that


30 per cent of Sun readers voted Labour. I think that it probably always has been the case, so we should be careful of atacking journalists. I am a member of the NUJ and I support journalists being able to work independently and report what they see. At its best, journalism uncovers some of the worst excesses of the state and of private enterprise.” Labour’s manifesto commits the party to an inquiry into media ownership – a long-time NUJ demand. If he does become Prime Minister, we can be assured NUJ concerns will find a favourable ear at the nation’s highest table. Te road from here to there, however, promises to be every bit as bumpy and uncertain as the one Jeremy Corbyn has travelled to the opposition leader’s office. You can hear the interview on this


audio file htp://tinyurl.com/y7y33ekf


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