Chasm between police and media seems to be greater than ever
As a former reporter at the Express I stumbled across a letter from Sussex Police, dated 1997, inviting members of the press to an evening dedicated to improving ‘communications and relationships with the local media’.
How sad that the would-be relationship between the two institutions now barely seems to exist. Nowadays it seems the police are loathe to even give the gender of people involved in incidents of public interest to the press.
There have been instances where the paper has been forced to describe someone involved in, for example, a car crash as ‘they’, even though only one person was injured or died.
Surely it’s time for the press and police to make friends again in the interests of the general public. There is a lot to be gained from the sharing of information.
John Eccles
South Street
Lewes