Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, said he was happy that Blair “admitted it was him and his party that played a big part” in changing the relationship between politics and the media.
But he said the premier had been too hard on the press for their critical stance on politics.
He said: “Maybe it needed to be said but I feel that he might have just given a little bit of time before he came out with these revelations about how the media should work with politics.
“Of course there have been great changes in the technology and the methods of delivery…. while that’s all happening, I think it’s ludicrous to suggest that it’s the media that’s caused the problem. It’s politicians in the first place who are not telling the truth.
“He points to the sometimes not respected but that’s because it finds it hard to tell the truth because of the lies it is continually told.”
Satchwell also called Blair’s reference to a need for a re-think of Britain’s media regulatory framework “worrying”.
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