About Labour Matters

A good press release should always start with the who, what, when, where, and why in the first paragraph, but here are used as sub-headings of this ‘about Labour Matters‘ page instead.

Who
Labour Matters is the creation of an ex-Labour councillor, but that really isn’t important. What’s important is broadcasting what Labour is doing more widely and in quantity. The creator of this site will not editorially influence the content of what is published by Labour organisations or representatives participating.

What
Labour Matters is currently in public in Beta test mode. We can however accept news from Labour representatives and election candidates; Council Labour Groups; CLPs; and branches, the ability to routinely email their press releases to Labour Matters for full publication.

The intention is to provide Labour news from the grassroots upwards and, in time, provide a searchable counterbalance to unsupportive corporate media online. By simply publishing press releases already being dispatched to news desks, we will create a new source of unfiltered local and national news. It would also be a huge leap forward in political transparency.

When
The creation of Labour Matters immediately followed the 2008 local elections. It was clear that some parts of the corporate media actively campaigned against us, probably costing us the London Mayor as well as a number of other council seats.

Where
Labour Matters is an online resource. Every effort will be made to ensure that it available to be read in comparison to, or in replacement of, corporate news online. Distribution is as important as publication of news. We welcome any links to our front page from supporters both within the UK and globally.

Why
Labour’s fortunes remain largely hostage to the prevailing sentiment of the corporate media and this distorts our democracy. When the media is able to set both the political narrative and the agenda, and that media is inherently biased against progressive forces, ordinary people will be mislead. Currently unable to counter this, the whole body politic is twisted in the media’s own choosing. It is such a powerful force that policy is routinely shaped with the corporate media’s acceptance in mind. This holds the country back from a progressive agenda.

Part of the solution is to provide uncensored information of our own, without increasing our work load. All that was missing was a tool to enable it.