After prohibiting a reporter from questioning a Labour lawmaker why he went across the Atlantic to give a 14-minute speech on climate change, the council in charge of one of Britain’s most progressive cities was today accused of suppressing free expression.
Marvin Rees was questioned about the “irony” of traveling to Canada to deliver a TED lecture about saving the environment when he could have done it on Zoom by local democracy reporter Alex Seabrook, who works for the BBC and the Bristol Live website.
After his superiors accused the council of limiting free expression, Mr. Seabrook, who had questioned Mayor Rees about why he felt the need to travel across the Atlantic after having already proclaimed a “climate emergency” in 2018, will no longer attend the news conferences.
In a nerve-wracking press conference, Bristol City Council’s head of communications Saskia Konynenburg interjected, saying she disagreed with Mr. Seabrook’s claim that the mayor’s 9,200-mile round trip to give a climate address in April was “legitimate.”
According to LinkedIn, Ms. Konynenburg has only worked as a reporter for three months in her career and considers herself as a “influential communications leader, focused strategist, and inventive content developer.”
She has primarily worked for the public sector and nonprofits.
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.”
After councilors, including those in his own Labour group, accused Mayor Rees of marginalizing them and stifling debate, he was dubbed a “bully” and a “egoist” last year.
After paying to have purple lightbulbs fitted to commemorate George Floyd’s passing during a BLM vigil, Bristol City Council earned the reputation of being politically aware.
The mayor of the city took part in anti-Brexit demonstrations there.
He also referred to the city’s toppling of the Edward Colston statue as an instance of “historical poetry.”
Bristol held a referendum in May 2022 to choose whether the city should continue to be controlled by a mayor or by a council-led committee system.
The office was abolished with a 59 percent majority in the city. Before the position is eliminated, Rees will hold the office of mayor through 2024.
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.”
Bristol City Council’s head of communications, Saskia Konynenburg, disagreed that the inquiry regarding the mayor’s 4,600-mile trip to give a climate address was “legitimate.”
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.