House of Lords Press Office
(asked on 25th November 2015) - View Source
Question
To ask the Chairman of Committees, in the last four weeks, what press stories have been initiated by the House of Lords Press and Media team, and what are the web links to each.
In the four weeks between Thursday 29 October and Thursday 26 November (when this question was tabled) at least 150 media stories about the work of the House of Lords have been generated following the issuing of press releases by the House of Lords Press and Media team.
This can be broken down to 34 broadcast features, 26 articles in national newspapers, 54 articles in newspapers from the nations and regions of the UK, 21 articles in trade publications and 10 articles on major news websites. It should be noted that the figure for websites includes only websites categorised as major national non-print news outlets such as the BBC, ITN, The Huffington Post etc. It excludes local news websites and websites of national newspapers.
During the four-week period in question a significant amount of the media coverage generated by the Press and Media Team was related to reports on the economic impact of further devolution from the Economic Affairs Committee, the report on the Scotland Bill from the Constitution Committee and the inquiry on the BBC Charter Renewal by the Communications Committee. There was also coverage of balloted debates following the Press and Media Team issuing press releases, which they offerfor all balloted debates. I have set out a range of examples of the coverage achieved as web links below.
Sample coverage of the Economic Affairs Committee report:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3326501/Peers-call-halt-devolution-powers-Scotland.html
www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article4619111.ece (subscription required)
www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/leaders/article4618836.ece (subscription required)
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-34870354
uk.news.yahoo.com/house-lords-flexes-muscle-again-062919748.html#cXsOuCX
www.thenational.scot/news/nobody-knows-what-is-going-on-lords-demands-halt-to-scotland-bill.10229
www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/politics/756995/halt-the-scotland-bill-lords-committee-declares/
www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/lords-committee-halts-scotland-bill-6865533
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/scrap-barnett-formula-boost-scrutiny-10472253
Sample coverage of the Constitution Committee report:
www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article4622064.ece (subscription required)
www.scotsman.com/news/uk/lords-committee-scotland-bill-will-risk-future-of-uk-1-3956632
www.thenational.scot/news/more-peers-call-to-delay-progress-of-the-scotland-bill.10363
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/11/23/scotland-bill-devolution-the-vow-lords_n_8628320.html
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-34904774
Sample coverage of the Communications Committee inquiry:
www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/17/john-whittingdale-defends-bbc-charter-panel-secrecy
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/11987215/Lord-Hall-Top-3400-most-watched-TV-shows-are-British.html
www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/10/bbc-director-general-hints-itv-has-poached-the-voice
www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/03/bbc-vice-news
The cross-party make-up of Select Committees allow the Press and Media team to develop and deliver proactive communications strategies for Committee work; that can prove more challenging for legislative work and areas of the House’s work subject to party political debate. In the 2014-15 session of Parliament, the Press and Media Team’s proactive promotion of select committee work generated 856 positive items of media coverage.