Jeremy Corbyn’s plan for the media: make it more boring

It should be said that Jeremy Corbyn’s ideas for shaking up the media aren’t all bad. The Labour leader is right for instance to focus on the need to help out local media; the death of regional newspapers in recent years means that local government is almost entirely unaccountable nowadays. It’s only when things go badly wrong that people actually sit up and pay attention. Corbyn is also right on the need to reform freedom of information laws, which have now been rendered virtually redundant by those in authority who know exactly how to prevaricate and obstruct requests at every turn. But too many of the Labour leader’s other ideas are half-baked and reveal a simple truth: Jeremy Corbyn simply doesn’t understand the media.

Take Corbyn’s apparent concern in the ‘low levels of public trust’ in journalists. Yes, it’s right that those in the media should be worried about this and do their best to improve their standing in the eyes of the public.