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<\/p>\nThe Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, joined Manchester Metropolitan University journalism students to discuss the Kerslake Review, media and politics.<\/p>\n
Burnham, whose first job was as an unpaid trainee journalist,in north Manchester, suggested \u201cjournalists are about as trustworthy as politicians\u201d.<\/p>\n
Having been elected to the House of Commons in 2001, the mayor has had a vast and varied experience with journalists and the media.<\/p>\n
He said: “I have seen the real power of journalism done well, but I have also been on the receiving end of really shoddy, inaccurate, sensationalist journalism”.<\/p>\n
He does, however, maintain that the British media is \u201cactually pretty good on the whole\u201d and suggests the Manchester Evening News\u2019 coverage of the Manchester Arena bomb attack was an \u201cexemplary\u201d blueprint for covering tragic events.<\/p>\n
“Overall, the coverage was overwhelmingly positive, accurate, responsible. As you hope it will be in a moment like that,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Burnham said the decision taken to hold a vigil so soon following the attack \u201cwas an opportunity for the people to come together and for a mood to establish itself which then set the tone for the fortnight that came after”.<\/p>\n
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He has commissioned the Kerslake Arena Attack Review<\/a> in response to the Arena attack to learn what lessons can be taken from the response to such an event.<\/p>\n In the eyes of the mayor, local media\u2019s importance to society seems to be resurgent in 2018. Although suffering financially as the media moves online, Burnham maintains that \u201clocal media is becoming more important in that they are often a source of trusted, accurate [and] impartial information.”<\/p>\n He also drew parallels between politicians and journalists, saying \u201c[they] are behaving more like journalists, they’re trying to anticipate stories and put their own stories out there”.<\/p>\n Social media has \u201cchanged the conduct of politics\u201d as politicians tailor their behaviour to suit the platform.<\/p>\n @AndyBurnhamGM<\/a>: “When I did interviews as a politician, my wife would send me a text beforehand, saying answer the ‘f****** question’.” #AndyBurnhamMMU<\/a> @MMUJournalism<\/a><\/p>\n \t\u2014 Georgia Landi (@GeorgiaLandi26) January 30, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n