On our media training courses we are often asked 'what makes a story newsworthy?'
Our answer is that journalists look for the TRUTH.
This is an acronym used to explain the ‘newsworthy’ term and it means reporters are looking for something which is Topical, Relevant, Unusual, has an element of Trouble, and Human interest.
One story which certainly ticked many of those boxes this week was Surrey County Council’s proposed council tax rise.
These stories are generally restricted to local media coverage – after all it is only local residents who are impacted. But when the proposal is for a 15 per cent increase – nine times the rate of inflation – the story suddenly has the ‘unusual’ element reporters like.
And when the proposed rise effectively pits a Conservative run council against the policy of a Tory Government the ‘trouble’ box is also ticked.
So it was perhaps little surprise that council leader David Hodge found himself the focus of media attention yesterday, which included an interview on Channel 4 News with presenter Cathy Newman. (Click on the image to watch the interview)
So how did he get on?
First of all the good parts.
Cllr Hodge faced an interview where questions were laced with negative language and he could easily have fallen into the trap of repeating those words and phrases.
The first question, for example, asked if this was a ‘political stunt designed to make a central point for central Government’. The temptation here could have been to start the answer with ‘this is not a political stunt’ or ‘I wouldn’t say it was a political stunt’, but sensibly Cllr Hodge ignored this negativity and got straight to his message about ‘protecting services for Surrey residents’.
Similarly he was given plenty of rope to directly criticise his own party, which he largely ignored. Take this exchange:
Cathy Newman: “This is extraordinary. You are disowning the central Government – you share the party but you don’t share their message on cuts.”
Cllr Hodge: “The message for me is about how do I, as the leader of the county council, look after the residents of Surrey.”
If you are asking people to find more money – the proposed increase would add nearly £200 to a Band D bill – you need to show them you really care about the services which are at risk.
And in the middle of his interview Cllr Hodge introduced some passion. When Ms Newman said it was ‘unheard of for a Conservative politician to call for a 15 per cent tax rise’, he replied: “Do you not honestly think it is right that someone once and for all stands up and tells the truth about what’s going on. Everyone talks about adult social care being short of money but no one is prepared to stand up and say it has to stop.” Similarly, at the end of the interview he was asked if he would resign if his proposal did not win public approval. He replied: “I came into politics to make a difference, to do my best for the people of Surrey. I will not quit, I am not a quitter.”
Cllr Hodge was also able to support his points throughout the interview with strong statistics. Early on we learnt that the council’s grant from the Government has been cut by £170m since 2010. Later we were told the council had made savings of £450m since 2010 and was ‘on track’ to save £700m by 2020.
What could have gone better?
The key thing is this was an interview which was crying out for some human examples. Cllr Hodge talked very broadly about services being cut if the tax hike is not approved, but specifics were needed. Exactly what types of services would potentially under threat? How would residents cope without these services? An example of a resident fearing the loss of these services and the impact it would have on them and their family would have been particularly impactful. It is these examples which are going to help him gain the support he needs for his proposed increase.
Additionally, Cllr Hodge made no real attempt to control or steer the conversation. It was a question led interview and in an interview which was less than four minutes long he faced nine questions. This number could have been reduced by avoiding the short responses which crept in towards the middle and again through use of human examples.
There is little doubt this was a taxing interview for Cllr Hodge. Time will tell if he did enough to convince Surrey residents to vote for his proposal.
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