Burning Bridges

Why the same media organisations that have spent the past decade tiptoeing around the failures of the Conservative party are suddenly starting to go studs in

A changing of the guard is taking place across the British media

Anyone closely following this general election campaign will have noticed a marked change in the media’s coverage of the two major parties.

This shift has been particularly noticeable in relation to the Conservatives.

Journalists and news organisations which have spent the past decade tiptoeing around the many failings of the party have suddenly started to go studs in.

Stories that would previously have been played down, or ignored altogether, are dominating the headlines.

Meanwhile major broadcasters, whose entire model for covering politics is based on maintaining access to Downing Street, have started to burn their bridges as if it were going out of fashion.

Examples of reckless access-abandonment can be found almost everywhere. 

Whether it’s Sky News publicly shaming Grant Shapps for phoning one of their presenters live on air, or ITV News broadcasting an embarrassing pre-interview moment with Rishi Sunak, British broadcasters have been queueing up to dunk on the Government that has kept them in business for the past 14 years.

Even the BBC, which has long resisted breaking big negative stories about Downing Street, has been at the forefront of this week’s Conservative election betting scandal.

Yet it’s not just the Conservative party that is now being treated differently by the British media, but Labour too.