Two political parties have been found using fake newspapers while campaigning ahead of a, yet to be announced, by-election in Mid-Bedfordshire
The tactic of making political campaign material look like a newspaper has been heavily criticised by the Electoral Commission.
They have repeated calls for political parties to stop using fake newspapers, saying it impacts “public confidence in the election process”.
In its UK Parliamentary General Election 2019 report, the Electoral Commission said: “Campaigners, candidates and political parties need to take greater responsibility for the presentation and content of campaigns they run and the impact of their activities on public confidence in elections.”
The Bedford Independent has joined this call for greater political responsibility, previously highlighting the dishonest nature of political parties using fake newspapers, when it was found the Liberal Democrats had published one to campaign in North Bedfordshire in 2021.
Read: North Bedfordshire Lib Dems criticised for “cynical attempt to mislead” public
This time, they have been found to be publishing a tabloid-style newspaper called the ‘Bedfordshire Courier’, which carries ‘stories’ about their Mid-Befordshire MP candidate, cllr Emma Holland-Lindsay.
Each ‘story’ is laid out and titled with the unmistakable look and feel of an independent newspaper.
“Voters have expressed concerns to us about the presentation, labelling or layout of campaign material. We encourage all campaigners to undertake their vital role responsibly and to support campaign transparency,” added a spokesperson for the Electoral Commission.
The only law around the presentation of campaign material by political parties relates to the imprint, a line of text which shows who is responsible for producing and promoting the campaign material.
The Electoral Commission says this imprint must be clear, yet the Liberal Democrats have added theirs to the very back page of their fake newspaper.
Conservative candidate Festus Akinboyse has also come under fire for his fake newspaper called the ‘Mid Beds Community Chronicle’.
While his imprint is on the front page, his ‘stories’ are also positioned and designed to look like editorial content from an independent source.
Deceiving the public
The News Media Association (NMA), which promotes the interests of news media publishers to the government, has campaigned against political candidates using fake newspapers in a cynical attempt to mislead the public.
“The NMA remains gravely concerned over the circulation of party-political literature, dressed up to mimic the look and feel of independent, local newspapers,” said an NMA spokesperson.
“The NMA has written to all the main Party chairs urging them to commit to a ban of such practices, which only seek to deceive the public and undermine trust in both politicians and journalists.”
When challenged, the Liberal Democrats maintain that all their campaign material in Mid-Bedfordshire “makes clear it’s from the Liberal Democrats” and that it’s “an effective way of communicating with people”.
Dawn Alford, executive director of the Society of Editors, however, says it makes a mockery of trusted local media.
“The Society of Editors has long called for an end to the practice of political parties putting out literature that masquerades as independent and impartial local news,” she said.
“Ahead of a by-election, the public expects all parties to be open and transparent in their communications and this practice does nothing to improve public confidence in politics.”
The Bedford Independent contacted Festus Akinbusoye but he did not respond ahead of our publication.
We have not received any complaints about campaign material from other political parties. If you see any campaign material you believe may not be transparent please send a copy to news@BedfordIndependent.co.uk.
You can also report material you believe breaks Electoral Commission rules at their website.
Editorial opinion
I don’t really know where to start.
On one hand, you have political parties clearly using propaganda-style tactics to deliver biased information to voters, but on the other hand, they tell us they value and respect the important role local media plays in holding those in power to account.
While Festus was unable to respond in time by our publication deadline, the Liberal Democrats have tried to defend their actions.
They seemingly hide behind the fact it’s “been used by all political parties for decades”, so there isn’t a problem. They seem to be ignorant of the fact times have changed.
People are sick and tired of being treated like fools and of the attempts to pull the wool over their eyes by those supposedly representing them in Parliament
This style of campaigning does nothing to promote transparency and it’s insulting to voters. We are all capable of deciding for ourselves who to vote for, we don’t need smoke-and-mirror tactics to do our thinking for us.
It’s also quite ironic that these tactics are being used in Mid-Bedfordshire, a seat held by an MP consistently accused of poor representation of those she is supposed to represent.
The candidates seeking to take over from Nadine Dorries must do better.
Local news from an independent and trusted source has never been more important and the Liberal Democrats know this.
They themselves say they “will continue working closely with great local newspapers such as the Bedford Independent throughout this by-election campaign.”
The practice of fake newspapers by political parties, however, makes a mockery of that commitment.
If you want local media to work with you, and give you a transparent and trusted platform, to reach your voters, you can’t use a deceitful practice that calls your integrity into question and, by extension, the integrity and transparency of local media.
The Bedford Independent is committed to making sure that our readers have access to fact-checked and balanced news, and we will certainly help all political candidates equally so they can get their messages across to voters.
However, as a direct message to those managing their campaigns, you can’t have it both ways. You know exactly what you’re doing with these fake newspapers and it has to stop.
