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One year on from a report that set out how to improve the relationship between the media and the police, the Crime Reporters Association says progress needs to be ‘harder and faster’ as the basic building blocks are still not in place.
Speaking at the Society of Editors annual conference, Rebecca Camber, Chair of the Crime Reporters Association (CRA) said that she was pleased that policing is listening to the media and there have been some improvements in the relationship, but it is still the case that only two thirds of police forces have a phone number for the media to use to reach the press office.
The CRA report, The police and the media: repairing the relationship, was a response to the College of Policing’s independent external review of Lancashire Constabulary’s operational response into the search for Nicola Bulley published in 2023.
Camber was on a panel focused on restoring trust between the police and media. She went on to say that police press offices need to do more to develop a relationship with the press, including sending out press releases and not simply referring journalists to their websites.
Welcoming the slow return of contact details to some force websites, she said: “How do you even know if someone has read your email? In a world of 24/7 news, if we don’t hear back quickly, are we going to wait any more? We’re just going to print.”
Sir Andy Marsh, CEO of the College of Policing was also a member of a panel. He told the room of journalists: “The tone in policing is set from the top.” He said that since the publication of the CRA report, the College had embedded training about dealing with the media in the Executive Leadership Programme for all prospective chief constables.
“Some leaders have a pitiful risk aversion to putting themselves in front of a camera.”
It will take time for the cultural change to feed through, he added. He cited Chief Constable Serena Kennedy – who will be retiring in the summer – as a great communicator. “She never shies away from answering difficult questions.”
“When I was a chief constable, the person I wanted closest to me, to guide me, was my head of communications. So that I could talk to my workforce effectively, they understood I cared about them and I knew how difficult the job could be. I wanted the people of the area to feel as if they knew me, as their beat cop. You can’t lead if you can’t communicate. You can’t have trust if you can’t communicate.”
Asked if he thought that all chiefs acted like this, he said not all do and where necessary, “I will give them a good talking to and tell them how they ought to be communicating.” He said that policing has had “a hell of a bumpy ride over the last three years an a lot of that is self-inflicted. We have turned a corner but we need to push on.”
“The relationship between the police and media cannot be seen as transactional. Police chiefs need to see it as an opportunity not a threat.”
One of the improvements that the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has put in place over the last year is to emphasise the need for standardisation across police communications teams. The NPCC has also established a national communications advisory group which meets regularly to share experience and learn.
Hayley Equi is Head of Corporate and Stakeholder Communications at the NPCC. She told the audience that lots of people had left police media teams but it remained important for communications to support operations. “I think we need to elevate communications within policing so that it’s perceived as a lever for policing, which it isn’t at the moment.”
She also said it will take time to embed changes properly across all 43 forces and referred to the Authorised Professional Practice in this area that is soon to be updated.
Read more – New report says the relationship between media and police is ‘broken and must be rebuilt’
