Former journalist Rees criticises standard of Bristol’s media

Marvin Rees has called for “some quality in the minute-taking” as he went on a tirade against the standards of journalism in Bristol.

Speaking at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting at City Hall, Rees focused particularly on a story published in the Bristol Post written by a BBC-funded local democracy reporter.

The story, ‘Chaos crossing Bristol as seven more bridges in need of repairs’, was about the news of a five-year programme of repairs for bridges along the New Cut.

“It’s just a classic example of a city making responsible decisions and someone trying to generate clicks to sell advertising on their platform,” said Rees, who was once a journalist at the BBC.

He added: “It’s an embarrassment to the profession.”

“We have reviewed our city’s bridges and we’ve found that along with so much of the rest of the city infrastructure, you know, they are coming to the end of life.

“It’s like being a fleet of cars and finding out that they all need their cambelts changed, right. That’s what we inherited.

“So we put a plan in place. We bid for the money. And we put a plan in place to sequentially go through those bridges to understand the scale of challenge they face and to put in sequence how we would repair those bridges to make sure that they are equipped for decades to come. It has to happen.

“The headline, ‘Chaos crossing Bristol as seven more bridges in need of repairs’, makes it sound like there is just some kind of chaos springing out of the…

“This is just embarrassing. And, you know, accuracy. This is what we mean by about truth and accuracy.

“‘Commuters face years of chaos’. I mean, talk about trying to create more heat and light in a situation. It’s just, it’s just remarkable.

“In many ways, we give up on tying to get a top quality commentary on the complexities and challenges of running a modern core city. But, you know.

“That’s why we have to use our own communications channels cos it’s the only way of getting accuracy out into the public realm and making sure that people understand what it actually is that we are working with an older constrained city with a growing population facing a climate and ecological emergency.

“But, you know, we can but wish we get some quality in the minute-taking.”

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Read more: 10 Questions: Marvin Rees – ‘I’m Bristol’s most transparent person’

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Between 2001 and 2005, Rees was a broadcast journalist at BBC Radio Bristol, during which time he also had attachments to BBC One Religion and Ethics, the BBC World Affairs Unit, Newsgathering and Radio Four Current Affairs.

From 2009 to 2010, he had a weekly radio show on Radio Bristol on Sundays from 5pm to 6pm.

The story that so irked Rees was written by Alex Seabrook of the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Seabrook is the reporter whose question to Rees about flying to Canada to deliver a TED talk about climate change led to the citywide boycotting of the mayor’s press conference after Seabrook and his LDRS colleagues were no longer invited to the fortnightly events.

Main photo: Bristol City Council

Read next:

• Rees: ‘We inherited a legacy of underinvestment’
• Marvin Rees confirms bid to stand as MP in new Bristol constituency
• What do we mean by independent?

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