Local Democracy Reporter: What Comms Pros Need to Know
Kumail Jaffer pulls back the curtain on the world of Local Democracy Reporting.
This week, we’re pulling back the curtain on the world of local democracy reporting with Kumail Jaffer. He talks us through what the role really involves, why it matters more than ever and how PR professionals can work with reporters on this beat more effectively.
The journalists are funded by the BBC but are employed by regional news organisations. This is a behind-the-scenes look at the realities of holding local power to account, specifically for Kumail who covers the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority.
Kumail, what does a day in the life of a “local democracy reporter” look like? Local democracy reporters fill the democratic deficit caused by the decline of local papers by holding every local authority - be it a borough council, unitary authority or in my case, a Mayor - to account. This involves attending committee meetings, scouring documents and analysing statistics on transport, housing and crime to produce original stories - no rewriting here!
What do you wish PR professionals understood better about reporting on local democracy? Firstly, we cannot rewrite press releases. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, every story of ours has to matter to the residents in our patch. There’s no point sending me UK-wide statistics, even if the subject is interesting - tailor it to London and I might be interested!
Do you see things that PRs are getting wrong when approaching you? Have any bad experiences? PRs are still working out the scope of the local democracy reporting service remit in some cases. We’re not local reporters, or even local political reporters - we cover the authorities in our patch pretty exclusively. In my case, I’ve been sent countless press releases on issues that the Mayor of London can’t do anything about!
How can PR pros be most helpful to local democracy reporters? PRs can email me asking what areas I’m most interested in - I’d be happy to have a catch up on the phone or over coffee to discuss future targeted collaborations.
What are the biggest challenges you face right now in reporting local democracy? The local democracy reporting scheme has revived local journalism and put authorities on notice that their actions and policies are being watched at all times. Some of them don’t take too kindly to that and try to shut out journalists entirely - the examples are well documented in recent months!
How do resource limitations in local journalism affect the type of stories you can pursue? With City Hall, meetings and press opportunities are fairly relentless, and because you’re often one of the few journalists actively covering the beat, you don’t have anyone to “bail you out” if you miss a line as you might do covering national politics. You become the community’s eyes and ears - if you miss something, they do too - even if it is your day off.
Quick fire time...
Best time to pitch you? 8am
Worst time to pitch you? 5pm
What’s the best way for people to contact you? kumail.jaffer@reachplc.com or on X
Remember folks, keep this just between us! We’re off the record.
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