Mayor Rees was questioned about giving the 14-minute TED lecture via Zoom by Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) Alex Seabrook, who works for the BBC and the Bristol Live website.
A press officer interrupted Mr. Seabrook in a now-viral video and questioned if he should be permitted to pose this question.
Bristol Council has since blacklisted him and other LDRs, but other media outlets and organizations have stood with him in solidarity. The BBC decided to boycott Bristol Council yesterday, June 23.
Since joining the BBC, ITV West Country has vowed not to cover or attend any mayor briefings until the restriction is overturned.
ITV News West Country supports other media outlets on this issue, according to Ian Axton, Head of News at ITV West Country.
“Until the exclusion of Local Democracy Reporters is lifted, we will not attend the twice-weekly press conferences hosted by the Mayor.”
Saskia Konynenburg, head of communications for Bristol City Council, said during the embarrassing virtual press conference that she did not believe the reporter’s inquiry regarding the mayor’s 9,200-mile round trip to give a climate talk in April was “legitimate.”
The local reporter was interrupted by the woman, who said: “My question is Marvin was fully-funded by TED to attend so I couldn’t quite understand what the role as an LDR would be in asking that question.” I believe it is most likely for a newspaper journalist, but I’m not exactly seeing how it relates to LDR.
According to LinkedIn, Ms. Konynenburg describes herself as a “influential communications leader, focused strategist, and original content creator” and has worked as a reporter for the public sector and nonprofit organizations for the most of her career.
She responded to Mr. Seabrook when he stated that it was his responsibility to keep the mayor accountable, saying, “I suppose that is probably from a journalist from a newspaper, but I can’t quite see the link to LDR, but I’ll leave it there.”
The Local Democracy Reporting Service is a journalistic organization supported by the BBC, with journalists covering local governments and other public-service organizations for regional titles around the UK.
I want to tell your TED talk was extremely intriguing, Mr. Seabrook questioned in the press conference from June 8.
I first wanted to know if you recognized the irony of traveling so far to discuss climate change, and I also wanted to know why Zoom wasn’t an option.
Because “mayors need to be involved in crafting national and international policy,” according to Mr. Rees, there is “no irony” in his opinion.
We can’t leave it to national politicians because we witnessed during COP that they are failing us. There was Bill Gates.
He was present to fight climate change. There was Elon Musk.
“So, how do you gain the biggest platform?” is the query.
How can you then make the most of the platform for that?
No matter how hard we try, getting it on the Bristol Live website won’t give us that platform, will it?
After he had concluded, Ms Konyenburg asserted that the query was improper for Mr. Seabrook to pose in his capacity as an LDR.
According to my understanding, one of your responsibilities as an LDR would be to report on and offer unbiased coverage of the normal operations of local governments and other public sector organizations.
“I couldn’t quite grasp what the purpose is in an LDR asking those questions,” said the questioner. “Marvin was totally supported by TED to attend this conference.”
“It’s holding those who head local administrations to account,” the reporter said. “Obviously, being the leader of Bristol City Council, there were questions regarding the enormous amount of carbon emissions from traveling so far. Thus, I believe the issue to be reasonable.
I believe it is likely from a journalist from a newspaper, but I don’t fully see how it relates to LDR, so I’ll leave it at that, says Ms. Konynenburg.
According to a representative for Bristol City Council, The Bristol Post today agreed to refrain from sending Local Democracy Reporters (LDR) to events hosted by the mayor of Bristol.
However, they argued that LDR journalists were not prohibited.
It happens after a council official attacked one of the reporters, who was working for a BBC-funded news service, for “not being a journalist from a newspaper.”
Local Democracy Reporter Alex Seabrook, who collaborates with the BBC and regional newspapers in Bristol, proposed the query.
There has been a “long-standing” understanding that the reporters won’t be dispatched, according to a spokesperson for Bristol City Council.
The Mayor’s Office and the Post have had a long-standing mutual understanding regarding staff attending news conferences whenever they are scheduled and held, and that LDRs would not be sent due to their limited definition of their job as an unbiased service, they claimed.
Bristol Live editor Pete Gavan, however, refuted this claim, stating that: “In the past, we have agreed to send other reporters to the mayoral briefings when possible but reserved the right to send the LDRs.”