View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. Publishers
  2. Digital Journalism
September 27, 2017

BBC says Kuenssberg will not speak at Tory conference after Canary story suggesting otherwise

By Freddy Mayhew

UPDATE (5.25pm 27/09/17): The Canary has updated its article to include a claim that the BBC did not respond to a request for comment before the article was published. In a clarification posted at the bottom of the article, The Canary says: “This article was updated at 4.50pm on Wednesday 27 September after the BBC informed us that Kuenssberg would not be speaking at the CSJ event, and the CSJ confirmed this. This article did not state that Kuenssberg would be speaking at the event, merely that she had been invited and if she were to accept that it would raise concerns about the impartiality of the BBC.”

The BBC has said political editor Laura Kuenssberg is not speaking at the Conservative Party conference next week after left-leaning news website The Canary said she was listed as a speaker.

The article, headlined: “We need to talk about Laura Kuenssberg. She’s listed as a speaker at the Tory Party conference”, was published today.

In it The Canary said: “BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg is listed as an ‘invited speaker’ at the Conservative Party conference. And the news raises questions about the impartiality of the journalist and her organisation. Again.”

The article includes a flyer for a conference fringe event hosted by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), a think tank established by former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith MP, which lists Kuenssberg as an invited speaker.

In response to the article being posted on Twitter, the account for the BBC News press team responded: “@bbclaurak is not speaking at this @csjthinktank event. At Labour & Conservative conferences to report impartially for @BBCNews.”

Buzzfeed UK’s political editor Jim Waterson tweeted: “It took me two mins to call the event organiser and find out this is bollocks. She’s not speaking at Tory conference. Already going viral regardless.”

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Another Twitter user, Arieh Kovler, said: “It’s completely standard to invite people and then list them as (invited) on party conference fringe ads. Standard, misleading and annoying.”

Former Labour leader Ed Miliband hit out at The Canary article in a tweet that referenced Jeremy Corbyn’s party conference speech today in which he said abuse would not be tolerated

Said Miliband: “Its clear she isn’t speaking. Jeremy said today we don’t tolerate abuse. Can you now withdraw/delete/correct.”

In a comment piece, Newstatesman deputy editor Helen Lewis said The Canary was “running a sexist hate campaign against Laura Kuenssberg for clicks”.

Press Gazette has left queries with the CSJ and The Canary but has yet to hear back from either.

The Canary joined alternative press regulator Impress in August. If it is found to have breached the regulator’s standards code it could be forced to publish a correction.

Impress told Press Gazette it had received 21 complaints about The Canary article so far. Complaints can be escalated to Impress, if unresolved by the publisher, after 21 working days.

In May The Canary attacked The Sun after claiming it had published a front page criticising Jeremy Corbyn on the day after the Manchester Arena bombing.

In fact the paper had gone to print before the tragedy, which happened late in the evening, and it did run with news of the Manchester atrocity in the second edition of the paper.

Kuenssberg has been in the news this week after it was reported that she had been assigned a bodyguard to cover the Labour Party conference following online threats.

The BBC’s political editor has received online abuse, particularly from supporters of Corbyn’s Labour, over claims her reporting is biased.

At the start of the year the then BBC Trust upheld a complaint against Kuenssberg over a report which said Corbyn rejected a “shoot to kill” policy in the event of Paris-style terror attacks.

Although the complaint was upheld on accuracy grounds, the Trust found no evidence of bias.

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network