Limited reporter access around British Prime Minister Andy Burnham at a Commonwealth summit has sharpened questions about how his turn toward online media affects journalists’ ability to scrutinize him, The Guardian reported Nov. 8.
Burnham traveled to the summit with one television crew and one news-agency journalist, the newspaper reported. He spent a total of seven and a half minutes taking questions across two brief BBC chats. The Guardian’s analysis described shorter formats as less demanding for politicians than a press conference.
The prime minister has also used social media videos and appeared with podcasters and online influencers. In an ITV interview aired this week, he said he believed traditional media was less relevant. Burnham said he hoped lighter online posts would engage younger audiences who might have felt detached from politics, adding, “the world’s not like that any more.”
Downing Street defended the summit arrangements, saying journalist access there was limited and Burnham had taken part in other interviews beforehand. It pointed to longer interviews and a challenging appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain last month.
The press arrangements differed from those at the 2024 Commonwealth summit. Then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer traveled with a wider press contingent, held a news conference and answered reporters’ questions during a flight, The Guardian reported.
Liberal Democrat MP Liz Jarvis, a former journalist, said Burnham could not remain outside media scrutiny indefinitely. “He can’t avoid media scrutiny for ever,” she told The Guardian. The newspaper also quoted a former adviser to several Conservative prime ministers who said journalists might act together if circumstances worsened and limits on policy scrutiny persisted.
The Guardian also cited a 2018 remark by then-Prime Minister Theresa May during a flight to China as a precedent in debates over press access. Its analysis framed the issue around accountability, saying shorter formats may leave reporters with less opportunity to pursue questions.
