Distraction as a media relations tactic

A story from the North of England about an attempt to move the news agenda on from a negative story for the Prime Minister and the Conservative Party.

The Daily Mirror led on its front page on Monday with a story about a four-year-old boy suffering from suspected pneumonia. The story was originally broken by The Yorkshire Evening Post on Sunday.

The front page showed an image of Jack Williment-Barr as he slept on the floor of the accident and emergency department at Leeds General Infirmary. Lack of funding for hospitals beds were blamed for the young boy’s situation.

ITV’s political correspondent Joe Pike confronted Prime Minister Boris Johnson with a photo of Jack Williment-Barr at a factory in Grimsby.

Mr Johnson refused to look at the image and took the phone off the journalist and stuck it in his pocket. It was a move lacking in empathy. He subsequently apologised and handed the phone back to Pike.

Health secretary Matt Hancock was despatched to Leeds General Infirmary to manage the situation. He was ambushed by noisy Labour activists.

A member of the Hancock entourage was allegedly punched according to reports by both the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg and ITV’s Robert Peston. The story was widely shared on social media.

A video of the incident showed a member of the Conservative team walking into a protestor’s arm. Both Ms Kuenssberg and Mr Peston apologised for sharing disinformation. In the social media era journalists want to be first rather than right.

It is completely clear from video footage that @MattHancock's adviser was not whacked by a protestor, as I was told by senior Tories, but that he inadvertently walked into a protestor's hand. I apologise for getting this wrong.

— Robert Peston (@Peston) December 9, 2019

Ask about the BBC Funding

Jack Williment-Barr’s story was muted during the afternoon by the fracas in Leeds and a debate over the BBC funding.

Speaking at a rally in Sunderland Prime Minister jumped on a question about the BBC Licence fee claiming that he’d review the BBC’s business model.

"You have to ask yourself whether that approach to funding a media company still makes sense in the long term given the way that other organisations manage to fund themselves,” said Mr Johnston.

It’s blatant distraction from the Jack Williment-Barr and NHS funding story. The BBC licence fee deal is guaranteed beyond the life of the next Parliament to 2027.

24 hours later The Daily Mirror has another image of a sick child on its front page and the story rumbles on.