Question time for papers during elections
General
Elections always pose a series of interesting challenges for regional newspapers in terms of how we report the run-in to polling day.
With all of the major news organisations covering every cough and spit of the main political figures, I would suggest there is more than enough analysis out there for anyone seeking to understand the key policies and the character of our frontline politicians.
Can we offer the same level of insight as an organisation like the BBC, for example, which has 2,000 journalists on staff with dozens dedicated to politics?
Unlikely, and neither would most people expect us to.
But we can do two things, firstly, provide an understanding of who the local political hopefuls are and what they stand for.
The candidate lists for each seat are due to be finalised this week and our plan over the weeks ahead is to provide profiles of who is standing constituency-by-constituency.
This is not always as straight forward as it seems as experience tells us there are always people unwilling to engage with the media at election time, even when one would think it would serve their best interests.
But by focusing on each seat in turn we hope to give you an informed look at the names on the ballot sheet and what they stand for which may help determine where to place your cross on July 4.
Looking at the national picture, when the big Westminster names arrive on our patch we will do our best to cover their visits, although it is fair to say that is not always easy, as was born out in 2019 when one party leader escaped out of a back door rather than talk to our journalists or have his picture taken.
Secondly, and I believe just as important, we can provide a welcome distraction to the saturation coverage of the election to be found elsewhere by focusing on the other things going on in our communities.
This is where we aim to excel every day and while Messrs Sunak, Starmer and Davey et al criss-cross the land there are still councils, courts and a host of local issues to be covered.
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When the big Westminster names arrive on our patch we will do our best to cover their visits