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The Lobby
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The Lobby
The terms the Lobby and Lobby journalists collectively characterise the political journalists in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament. The term derives from the special access they receive to the Members' Lobby. Lobby journalism refers to the news coverage, largely unattributed, generated by reporters from the political proceedings in Parliament.
In the 1870s a list was drawn up of parliamentary reporters who were permitted to mingle with MPs in the Members' Lobby. According to the parliamentary press gallery this had become necessary after the speaker Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington had stopped members of the public wandering into the Members’ Lobby. Only people, including reporters, on the list kept by the Serjeant at Arms would be given access.
During the 20th century the nature of the Lobby evolved, from a secretive system whose existence was barely acknowledged, to a more or less formal briefing system, though still unattributable. During the government of John Major, rules were changed to allow lobby briefings to be attributed to "Downing Street sources". Lobby members can be briefed by other government and opposition spokespeople, but the Lobby rules insist that the identity of sources must not be revealed.
The Lobby rules are developed and enforced by its members through a committee, not imposed by government or parliament. Although it is a subsidiary of the press gallery, it has long operated independently.
An independent review of government communications in 2003, chaired by Bob Phillis, then chief executive of the Guardian Media Group, found that the Lobby system was not working effectively. The report, presented to the Cabinet Office in January 2004, concluded that the credibility of both government and the media are damaged by the impression that they are involved in a "closed, secretive and opaque insider process".
According to evidence received by the review, editors and journalists disliked public information being used as "the currency in a system of favouritism, selective release and partisan spinning". Ministers and officials in turn complained about the media offering a partial and distorted version of events, "often with little relationship to what was said at lobby briefings and relying on off-the-record sources or, as some have alleged, deliberate misrepresentation".
The Phillis review recommended that all major government media briefings should be on the record, live on television and radio and with full transcripts available promptly online. This recommendation was not acted on and many other recommendations were also "set aside or watered down".
On 7 January 2019, television cameras were allowed in the Lobby for the first time ever, first shown on BBC News and then on Sky News a few hours after. However, the briefings themselves continued not to be televised.[citation needed]
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The Lobby
The terms the Lobby and Lobby journalists collectively characterise the political journalists in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament. The term derives from the special access they receive to the Members' Lobby. Lobby journalism refers to the news coverage, largely unattributed, generated by reporters from the political proceedings in Parliament.
In the 1870s a list was drawn up of parliamentary reporters who were permitted to mingle with MPs in the Members' Lobby. According to the parliamentary press gallery this had become necessary after the speaker Evelyn Denison, 1st Viscount Ossington had stopped members of the public wandering into the Members’ Lobby. Only people, including reporters, on the list kept by the Serjeant at Arms would be given access.
During the 20th century the nature of the Lobby evolved, from a secretive system whose existence was barely acknowledged, to a more or less formal briefing system, though still unattributable. During the government of John Major, rules were changed to allow lobby briefings to be attributed to "Downing Street sources". Lobby members can be briefed by other government and opposition spokespeople, but the Lobby rules insist that the identity of sources must not be revealed.
The Lobby rules are developed and enforced by its members through a committee, not imposed by government or parliament. Although it is a subsidiary of the press gallery, it has long operated independently.
An independent review of government communications in 2003, chaired by Bob Phillis, then chief executive of the Guardian Media Group, found that the Lobby system was not working effectively. The report, presented to the Cabinet Office in January 2004, concluded that the credibility of both government and the media are damaged by the impression that they are involved in a "closed, secretive and opaque insider process".
According to evidence received by the review, editors and journalists disliked public information being used as "the currency in a system of favouritism, selective release and partisan spinning". Ministers and officials in turn complained about the media offering a partial and distorted version of events, "often with little relationship to what was said at lobby briefings and relying on off-the-record sources or, as some have alleged, deliberate misrepresentation".
The Phillis review recommended that all major government media briefings should be on the record, live on television and radio and with full transcripts available promptly online. This recommendation was not acted on and many other recommendations were also "set aside or watered down".
On 7 January 2019, television cameras were allowed in the Lobby for the first time ever, first shown on BBC News and then on Sky News a few hours after. However, the briefings themselves continued not to be televised.[citation needed]