Lembit next to experience defection rumours

As August moves onto September and the Conference season approaches, one can sense a certain desperation on the part of journalists, anxious to fill up all those blank news columns

Admittedly, the spurious and vindictive rumours about Charles Kennedy’s fictional defection started on the internet by Labour bloggers and tweeters, desperate to gain some traction against the Liberal Democrats. But that does not excuse newspapers such as the Daily Mirror, amongst others, who picked up the non-story with glee, irrespective of the facts and without checking first.

This morning’s Hickey column in the Daily Express has no such excuse. From what I can see this is the first time that a story about Lembit Őpik defecting to Labour has appeared anywhere.

When BBC Radio Wales checked, Lembit denied it straight away and reaffirmed his intention to seek the Liberal Democrat nomination for Mayor of London. It appears that any story that Labour or others want to make up about the Liberal Democrats will be taken seriously by some journalists, who for the most part appear to have abandoned the basic rules of their profession to assist in undermining the coalition government.

It almost makes me yearn for the Conference season, except that I know full well that journalists will be attending the Liberal Democrats’ event with the same agenda. Their stories will be written in advance and in most cases, they will not even look for validation of them. When exactly did we abandon proper journalism in this country?

Related posts:

1. Lembit writes on those defection rumours
2. Neither Lembit Opik nor Nelson Mandela to be Lib Dem Mayoral Candidate
3. Lembit Öpik to seek Lib Dem nomination for London mayor