News from Labour Matters

Labour Matters is born…

We all know that The Sun once claimed “It was the Sun wot one it”, and following Ken Livingstone’s narrow defeat in the 2008 London Mayoral election the Evening Standard made a similar claim. Whatever the veracity of these claims, there is no doubt that the media – particularly the written media – is not naturally supportive of Labour. Times are changing, with citizens able to create their own blogs etc., but any political discussion is still largely dominated by the narrative created by the corporate media.

In an effort to help redress this situation I created Labour Matters. The thinking is simple: If all the press releases sent out by Labour were to be published without first being interpreted by the press, the political discussion could start with what Labour is actually saying, not what the media consider is being said.

I don’t know whether this notion will be supported or not, but without first creating Labour Matters it would be impossible to know either way. Of course it’s important that Labour Matters doesn’t add to anybody’s workload, so to publish a press release or article all an MP or Constituency Labour Party would need to do is add Labour Matters to their email list.

I have a vision of how this Labour Matters might develop, but this article is only really a ‘mission statement’: the success and usefulness of an online Labour wire service will depend on it’s use by Labour representatives, candidates, and CLPs.

Other news from Labour Matters

• Labour releases powerful film on Conservative crime choices - 9 March 2010
• David Cameron's claim to have changed the Tories is exposed as hot air - 7 March 2010
• Banned councillor still supported by London Mayor despite police probe - 2 March 2010