Adrian Jeakings, the Newspaper Society president and Archant chief executive, fired off a letter to Nick Clegg because the deputy prime minister spoke of the written press resembling "desperate animals around a disappearing waterhole."
Though Jeakings's letter is widely reported today (examples: Press Gazette and HoldTheFrontPage) it is based on a misunderstanding.
As I reveal in my column today in the London Evening Standard, Clegg was referring to the national press and not the regional press.
So Jeakings's passionate defence of the status of regional and local newspapers is entirely misplaced. On the other hand, it doesn't hurt to remind politicians to avoid generalisations.
