News chiefs to call out parties over fake newspapers as editors vow to name and shame

With local elections in May and a General Election expected later in the year, the use of fake newspapers to distribute party political progaganda has become a key issue for industry leaders.

The tactic has been used by Don Valley Conservative MP Nick Fletcher as well as the Liberal Democrats in Sheffield and Berkshire, while the Tories have also used the method in other parts of the country, resurrecting the name of an actual defunct title, the Lincoln Chronicle.

Now the Society of Editors has written to all political parties asking them to put a stop to what it called the “brazen deception” of voters.

The issue of fake newspapers and political reporting ahead of the general election will also be one of the main agenda items at the Society’s upcoming 25th anniversary conference taking place in London on 30 April.

Its executive director Dawn Alford said: “The Society of Editors has long campaigned against political parties using fake newspapers to promote their candidates in election periods.

“Not only does this absurd practice damage democracy and undermine public trust in both politics and the news media, but it is also insulting to the electorate who are not stupid and expect officials and candidates to communicate with them in an open and transparent manner.

“Ahead of elections later this year including a general election, we have written to representatives of all political parties urging them to put an end to this mimicry as well as vowing to name and shame those who continue to attempt to pull the wool over voters’ eyes. ”

Added Dawn: “The news media plays a vital role in a democracy, and, during election periods, journalists are essential in helping to communicate party policies to the public.

“Instead of employing vast time and effort into brazen deception, parties should instead look to highlight and promote the work of the actual local press as a trusted source of news and information to the public.”

Last year, Mr Fletcher came under fire when copies of the ‘Doncaster East Chronicle’ were distributed to hundreds of homes in his constituency, featuring a large photo of him outside Doncaster Sheffield Airport on the front page.

One local resident said: “A made-up newspaper?

"It looks like a newspaper but it’s all about him and what he is supposedly doing for Doncaster. I think it’s more about what he hasn’t done for Doncaster.”

Ahead of the 2019 election, the News Media Association launched the ‘Don’t Be Duped’ campaign, demanding an end to the practice and calling on politicians of all colours to instead lend their support to “real local journalism”.

The NMA, the trade body for the regional and national press, wrote to the Electoral Commission ahead of the campaign’s launch to call for “an end to fake local newspapers”.

The Conservatives also found themselves in hot water last year after circulating pamphlets under the titles of the Wolverhampton Chronicle, Sandwell Chronicle and Dudley Chronicle.

The names used are actually real free newspapers published by the Midland News Association – now part of National World – and the party was forced to issue an unreserved apology and to provide a donation to charity.