![\"Corbyn2\"](\"https:\/\/newsmediauk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Corbyn2.jpg\" "\\"Corbyn2\\"")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeremy Corbyn has said the Freedom of Information Act is \u201cessential in any democracy\u201d and important tool for local newspapers and investigative journalists at the Newspaper Conference annual lunch today.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the Freedom of Information Act, the Labour Party leader said: \u201cWe have a Freedom of Information Act which is very, very important because freedom of information is essential in any democracy if you are to hold to account those that exercise authority, power or administration.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m absolutely against charging for FOI requests.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an essential tool for the entire community. It\u2019s also an essential tool for investigative journalists to find out what is going on in local government, local health authorities, local police and crime commissioners work and many, many other areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very important and I\u2019m sure that\u2019s something we can all agree on; the essential nature of the Freedom of Information Act, the freedom of information is a very important tool for local newspapers as well as of course national newspapers and journalists, it is a question of accountability.\u201d <\/p>\n
Delivering the vote of thanks, News Media Association chairman Ashley Highfield said he welcomed the Labour Party\u2019s commitment to strengthening FOI to which Mr Corbyn responded: “There is a case for strengthening it and I’ll look at that.”<\/p>\n
Mr Highfield added: \u201cMr Corbyn, your comments today indicate that you and your colleagues recognise the importance of local media to democracy. We hope this can be reflected in all areas of the Labour Party\u2019s policy-making.\u201d <\/p>\n
Mr Corbyn spoke on a variety of topics at the lunch chaired by Newspaper Conference chairman Annabelle Dickson, Archant group political editor, attended by 40 local and regional press editors, political editors, and chief executives.<\/p>\n
Mr Corbyn said it was his first \u201cpress lunch\u201d as he didn\u2019t normally attend them. The Newspaper Conference is the regional press lobby Westminister, made up of 10 regional press political editors reporting on Westminster politics. <\/p>\n
Asked by Yorkshire Post political correspondent Kate Proctor whether the recent reshuffle was a \u201crevenge reshuffle\u201d Mr Corbyn said it was an \u201cadjustment\u201d and revealed he had signed off on the completed reshuffle by text message.<\/p>\n
Mr Corbyn talked at length about his experience as a journalist on local newspapers. He said: \u201cWhat was nice about that paper and indeed what is nice about local papers is that it was the glue of the community, that everybody bought the paper, everybody relied on the paper, and I think that\u2019s true of local media all over the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven with some degree of centralisation of local media and some degree centralisation of newsgathering there is still a much greater trust in local media and in regional media than in national media, and I think that\u2019s something we should be pleased with and I think it\u2019s something that\u2019s very important in our lives.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI love the diversity and variety of this country and I think there\u2019s a huge and very important role in community cohesion not just for local papers but for local radio stations, local TV stations, and regional newspapers and that can be very important in reaching out to all communities. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo you can get more people from BME communities buying and reading local papers if the local papers are responding to what their community are saying so you report just as much of the relevance of what\u2019s happening in the mosque as what\u2019s happening in church or a synagogue or a temple so it can become a very important binding agent for the local community.\u201d<\/p>\n
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