Dartford Council block media from election count
Reporters at Kent TV station KMTV have tonight been blocked from filming the election count at Dartford Council.
The station, which is a partnership between Dartford Messenger and the University of Kent, have stated Dartford were the only Kent Council who were “purposely unhelpful. Every other council welcomed our presence as an integral part of the local political process.”
Unlike many of our reporter friends covering the #KentVote19 tonight, we’ve been denied access to the count until results are ready to be announced.
We’ll make sure to keep you up to date from outside! ❄️
— Dartford Messenger (@KMDartford) May 2, 2019
Despite this the authority agreed to allow two reporters in advance but have then gone on to block them tonight. Those behind plans to report state:
“We had even agreed NOT to film inside the venue and do any interviews outside. They said we couldn’t film inside for “health & safety” reasons + the “sensitive nature” of the count. But any TV journo worth their salt knows how to film counts in a way that protects the process”.
The two young reporters are now forced to wait outside.
The Council is currently Conservative controlled with Labour hoping to make gains.
Not surprised, All sound Dodgy to Me ! . What goes on behind closed doors !
I have had experience of KMTV and can assure you they are scrupulously honest and a credit to journalism. I guess it was the returning officer that banned them.
If it was, he/she got it badly wrong.