Friday 24 June 2022 08:30 PM ITV joins BBC in boycott of 'woke' Bristol Council as reporter banned for ... trends now
ITV has joined the BBC in boycotting Bristol Council's mayoral briefings after the council banned a local reporter for asking the Labour politician if he saw the irony in flying to Canada to give a short speech on climate change.
Local Democracy Reporter (LDR) Alex Seabrook, whose who works for the BBC and the Bristol Live website, asked Mayor Rees whether he could instead have done the 14-minute TED talk via Zoom.
In a clip which has now gone viral, Mr Seabrook was interrupted by a press officer who questioned whether he should be allowed to ask this question.
Marvin Rees speaks to demonstrators on College Green in Bristol protesting in favour of the EU and against Brexit
He and other LDRs have since been banned by Bristol Council but other journalists and organisations have rallied behind him in support - with the BBC yesterday, June 23, deciding to boycott Bristol Council.
ITV West Country have now joined the BBC and have pledged not to attend or cover any of the mayoral briefings until this ban is lifted.
Ian Axton, Head of News at ITV West Country said: 'ITV News West Country stands by other media organisations on this issue.
'We will not attend the fortnightly press briefings held by the Mayor until the exclusion of Local Democracy Reporters is lifted.'
In the cringeworthy virtual press conference, Saskia Konynenburg, head of communications at Bristol City Council, said that she did not think the reporter's question on the mayor's 9,200-mile round trip in April to give a climate talk was 'legitimate'.
Interrupting the local reporter she 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 think it is probably for a journalist from a newspaper but I can't quite see the link to LDR.'
Ms Konynenburg markets herself as an 'influential communications leader, focused strategist and innovative content creator' and was a reporter for three months in her career largely working for the public sector and charities, according to LinkedIn.
When Mr Seabrook said his job was to hold the mayor to account, she replied: 'I think it probably is 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 news agency funded by the BBC, with reporters working on regional titles across the UK covering local authorities and other public-service bodies.
In the press briefing from June 8, Mr Seabrook asked: 'I want to say your TED talk was very interesting.
'I wondered, firstly, if you saw the irony in flying so far for climate change, and secondly, why you can't use Zoom instead?'
Reporter Alex Seabrook (left), who works with the BBC and the Bristol Live website, questioned Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees (right) about the 'irony' of his long flight to deliver a talk on climate change
In a toe-curling press conference, Saskia Konynenburg, head of communications at Bristol City Council, intervened saying she disagreed that Mr Seabrook's question was 'legitimate'.
