The Politics of Journalism: Distortions and Realities

This week, Alan and Lionel are joined by Prospect columnist Sam Freedman, a senior fellow at the Institute for Government.

Sam reveals the inner workings of the Westminster press lobby—commonly known as “the lobby”. That’s the group of political journalists, usually representing major newspapers and broadcasters, with privileged access to official briefings and the Prime Minister’s spokesperson.

In this month’s issue of Prospect, Sam argued that the pressures of 24-hour news cycles and reduced resources have led lobby journalists to prioritise sensationalism over true policy analysis. He thinks this lack of specialist expertise means the lobby prefers to nose around and cause trouble and, at worst, even “hallucinates” stories.

But what impact is this having on the media? And how does it end up shaping government policy itself?

To read Sam’s piece, head to https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/issues/march-2025

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