Ros writes in Liberal Democrat News, September 2007
Conference roundup
After just a few days, our conference in Brighton already seems a long way off. The media frenzy which always accompanies the political exodus to the seaside, is pretty short lived - and by the time the last exhibitor has packed away the remaining free pencils and key fobs, the media have turned their attention to the Labour Party and the ceaseless speculation about Gordon Brown’s intentions for a general election.
Yet again, conference as reported by our national media bears little resemblance to the conference any of us actually attended. The narrative was written before any journalist set off for the coast and probably wouldn’t have be changed whatever actually happened. Newspapers thrive on reports of conflict and dissent - yet privately, journalists tell me that such stories “sell papers”. Can this really be true? Is political dialogue in this country so bankrupt that it is only trivia and speculation about personalities that is deemed to be of interest to those reading so called quality newspapers? Are readers really so undiscerning?
Where does the truth lie though? In an era of soundbite politics, should we be surprised that journalists are unable to write about serious issues in an interesting and informative way, and instead have to resort to cheap and easy stories about personality? it is possible to overcome the cynicism of public and media alike, it just takes hard work and a consistent, philosophy-based message.
At home in Needham Market recently, I had the pleasure of listening to Dorothy Thornhill, the only woman (and Liberal Democrat, for that matter) elected Mayor in the country. Hers was a message of making a commitment to the voters, delivering upon it, and then making herself available to voters in a highly visible way. It’s a liberal, democratic way of running a community, and it’s a message that we should be proud to promote.
The temptation is, in the face of a trivia-seeking media, is to play along, and at a time when elements of the media are trying to reflect a two-party hegemony, we have to fight harder to get, and keep, their attention. I’m proud that we’ve stayed focused on ideas, and that we’re still leading the way on those issues where we’ve been ahead of the curve over the years.
The reality was that, for the Liberal Democrats, Brighton was pretty much a ‘business as usual’ conference. We had genuine debates about policy issues and the details of our manifesto, we dealt with the minutae of Party business, and above all, we caught up with old friends and colleagues. What struck me was the real sense of purpose which came from the knowledge that a general election could be just weeks or months away.
Journalists of course aren’t remotely interested in stories like that. They like drama, actual or otherwise, they like simple messages and above all they like stories they think they can influence. They don’t like admitting that something might be significant locally, because they know they can’t have had much influence over it, and it doesn’t fit the picture they wish to paint.
If you listen to the press, you’d think political parties en masse only function at conference and possibly during general elections - in other words, when journalists choose to think we function. They ignore the work going on all over the country, all year round. When did you last hear a journalist acknowledge the work done by the armies of unpaid volunteers who, irrespective of their political allegiance, make our democracy happen. As a society, we’ve been driven to an assessment of politicians as “all in it for themselves”, despite the face that only a tiny percentage of political activists’ ever get themselves elected to office, or indeed ever make any kind of living from it.
Nor are they particularly partial in their assessments. By this time next week, the papers will be full of stories of how much trouble Cameron is in, and how much dissent there is in Tory ranks. It might provide us with temporary amusement but will, in truth, add to the poor perception of politicians and their doings in the mind of the public.
Belief in a political cause, and a commitment to it, has become an object of suspicion and scepticism, and that it desperately sad. They could try to celebrate the fact that all over the country, folk who believe in things actually get out of their chairs and try to make things happen.