← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · W.R.I.T.O.S
Thread ID: 6883 | Posts: 1 | Started: 2003-05-23
2003-05-23 22:09 | User Profile
Tenfold Increase in BNP Vote in Sunderland THERE WAS confusion in the media about just how to report the BNP's superb election effort in Sunderland.
The BBC claimed, 'BNP Election Effort Falls Flat', while the Sunderland Echo carried the headline, 'Shock As BNP Take Almost 14% of City Vote'.
On an inside page of The Echo, in a report entitled 'BNP make more inroads', one journalist revealed the reasoning behind the BBC's 'doing-down the BNP' strategy.
Dr David Renton, a lecturer at Sunderland University and media adviser on all things 'right-wing' who was present at the count, instructed journalists, "It is worrying that the BNP have gained such a large proportion of the vote in Sunderland, however the last thing needed is for the BNP to be hailed as a credible party.
"The point to push is that they failed to gain any seats, not that they gained so many votes."
Now the BBC followed Dr Renton's instructions to the letter, but to the embarrassment of both the Corporation and the lecturer, the Sunderland Echo chose not to.
Dr Renton's 'off-the-record' instructions on how to report local elections didn't find favour with journalists who found it somewhat of an insult being told to doctor their copy.
Instead, The Echo chose to report Renton's advice in full, hence giving their readership an insight into the people who are manipulating the news!
Back to the election, the BNP in Sunderland polled 13,652 across 25 wards and averaged 13.75% of the total vote. The party came second in six wards and finished just 8% behind the Conservatives who are the official opposition in the city.
The BNP vote was a tenfold increase on our one for the 2001 General Election in Sunderland.