Why is this local newspaper platforming far right vigilantes?

They say local media is dying, but Bournemouth Daily Echo editor Toby Granville has found an ingenious way to keep his publication in the public eye: platform a far right vigilante group.

Having already picked up two Private Eye mentions and an IPSO complaint, Granville is apparently refusing to let a little thing like editorial embarrassment get in the way of the Echo’s relationship with Safeguard, a “community support group” that has become something of a regular feature in the paper.

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Safeguard’s founder has organised anti-asylum seeker protests and moderated a Facebook group containing Islamophobic posts. Its spokesperson has previously stood for Reform. Dorset Police have raised concerns about the group’s vetting process.

So naturally, the Bournemouth Daily Echo thought: we need to become their unofficial press office! It handed Safeguard a profile interview, a regular column slot and even promoted its raffle.

And then there was the small matter of the Echo’s IPSO complaint over a misleading headline about a new asylum hotel opening in Poole, a headline which, rather inconveniently, had no basis in fact.

Now the paper has published yet another story about Safeguard, this time reporting that the group could face closure because donations have dried up. Cue the world’s smallest violin. But to really shake off an accusation of partiality, readers are helpfully directed to a donation link at the bottom of the article.

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Granville has previously appeared in the paper smiling alongside two Safeguard founders, looking rather dwarfed by the pair. He appears entirely untroubled by the concerns raised by readers, other newspapers or the standards expected under the IPSO code.

So the question is simple: why is the editor of a local newspaper so willing to stake the reputation of himself and his paper by cosying up to a group with such close ties to the anti-asylum seeker and Reform fringes?