The Bridge has withdrawn from its former press-regulator, Impress.
It seems access to a free adjudicator is being abused by those who have power and who would avoid scrutiny.
The membership was taken by The Bridge so individuals who have no power, but feel misrepresented or otherwise harmed by The Bridge’s reporting, would be able to seek redress free of charge.
This decision to withdraw was not taken lightly as it could well be weaponised by the same complainants.
Both Berwick upon Tweed Town Council and NCC Councillor Nicole Brooke have tried to use Impress to attack The Bridge’s scrutiny of them.
Both are funded from the public purse and used tax-payer funded resources to mount their complaints on which they spent considerable time.
In the case of the Town Council, Impress did not accept the complaint for investigation.
‘We provided the option for the complainant to escalate the matter to Impress which they are yet to do,’ said a spokesman. This is after The Bridge spent some hours meticulously responding to the initial complaint.
To recap, it concerned the town council’s three-week delay in notifying Northumberland County Council (NCC) of Castle ward’s new vacancy. During this gap a town councillor sought interested candidates potentially for co-option, thus potentially avoiding an election since the vacancy had not been publicly announced.
The Town Council was unable to produce the email chain which it claimed proved it had followed correct procedure.
In the case of Cllr Brooke, ostensibly an Independent councillor, the story concerned her hiding her membership of the Conservative Party. Emails were sent asking her version of the situation. As is Cllr Brooke’s unfortunate habit regarding emails, she ignored them both.
The public interest in the matter, however, was strong enough to publish. Cllr Brooke doesn’t see it that way, especially with an election underway. And she has a new grievance about The Bridge withdrawing from Impress. (More on Cllr Brooke on pX)
Incidentally, all her communications with The Bridge concerning her complaint to the press-regulator were prefaced with ‘Private and Confidential’. Why would she wish to compound the original error by again demanding confidentiality? Is this person a serious politician?
Readers’ and advertisers’ interests will always be the priority of The Bridge – whether in offering value for money, high quality of content, and always having Berwick’s back. Any complaints will always be taken extremely seriously. Where honest mistakes have occurred they have immediately rectified – three that I’m aware of in nearly four years and twenty-nine issues.
If those in power feel strongly enough about supposed misrepresentations they will be happy to engage solicitors and not a free regulator, wasting the scarce resources of a local publication.
The Bridge is now a highly-trusted publication in Berwick precisely because nothing is published on a whim, nor on the basis of gossip. Every fact is checked via at least one source, and the right of reply is offered to subjects before publication.
That’s because I’m an NCTJ-qualified journalist and, as a result, The Bridge was shortlisted for the British Journalism Awards in 2024, only a year after launch. Not a ‘hobby newspaper’ as Cllr Brooke has publicly described The Bridge.
How else would any publication survive if it did not take pains to ensure the work is accurate? Especially in a town of 12,000 where many have vested interests and are used to having things their way*, and so would love to see The Bridge disappear.
It’s a no-brainer!
If you would kindly continue to support The Bridge – have your business-owner friends take adverts*, take a subscription, buy an extra copy for your neighbour or friend rather than pass the same copy around – your local news service will continue to thrive.