A controversy in the blogosphere has forced a change of policy from the Conservative Party press office. Jason Brown, writer of high-profile blog Tory Politico, publicised the fact that a press office employee told him that blogs were ‘not important’. He went on to complain that bloggers were not allowed to sign up to the news release distribution list.

The Tories were quick to try to defuse this row, and have now updated their policy to allow bloggers to receive releases in the same way as the national media. However, content such as embargoed news remains off-limits. The Conservative press office defended the decision, claiming embargoes had been broken by bloggers in the past.

On his site Jason Brown commented: “Some may see this as an incomplete solution, but the fact that the press office now recognising bloggers do have a legitimate role to play in their communications strategy can only be seen as a good thing.”