Croydon Council CEO 'uncomfortable' with press

Croydon Council's CEO has long had a difficult, or non-existent, relationship with the local press ... now he's effectively banned them from a community meeting he was at because they made him feel 'uncomfortable'.

Media commentator Roy Greensland reports in the national Guardian, 

The three journalists - from the Croydon Guardian, Croydon Advertiser and Inside Croydon - were excluded from a meeting of the west Croydon community forum (WCCF). It was held to discuss Croydon council's plans for the area in the wake of last year's riots.
But the council's chief, Jon Rouse, was a reported as saying: "It is going to be a very different meeting if the press are here.
"It is not my job to place myself in a position in which I have to defend council policy and have my words scrutinised and reported on by the press. That is the place of our democratically elected politicians."
Forum members then voted in favour of the press being ejected, prompting one member of the forum to walk out in protest. Others used Twitter to criticise Rouse.
Croydon Guardian assistant editor Matt Watts said the chief executive of a council "should be publicly accountable. He is paid a large salary and the public should be able to hold him to account."
A spokesman from Croydon council said the WCCF meeting did not count as being "public" and was not therefore open to the press.
According to the Inside Croydon blogger, one possible reason for the exclusion involves the apportioning of monies to deal with the aftermath of the riots.
Sources: Croydon Guardian/Croydon Advertiser/Inside Croydon Hat tip: HoldTheFrontPage

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