Premier Ewart Brown's relationship with Royal Gazette editor Bill Zuill is bad beyond repair, Dr. Brown's press secretary Glenn Jones said yesterday.

Mr. Jones told Hamilton Rotary Club the "staunchly adversarial" relationship between the pair is "troublesome because it could factor into decision-making on both sides".

The former Royal Gazette reporter also launched into an attack on expats at the Island's newspapers, whom he claimed were inclined to report unfairly because they mainly associate with other expats that don't like Government.

Mr. Zuill responded by saying The Royal Gazette makes every effort to encourage its expat reporters to mix with the Bermuda community.

Mr. Jones told the meeting: "The nature of the professional relationship between the Premier and the editor of The Royal Gazette is grossly unhealthy.

"I don't know how else to describe it. It is bad. And each probably blames the other for it which makes the situation appear hopeless for improvement."

Mr. Jones claimed the Premier had been trying hard to build bridges with The Royal Gazette but that this newspaper did not want to enter into dialogue with him.

When asked for more clarity on his comments by this newspaper yesterday, Mr. Jones refused to enter into dialogue with the reporter.

In the summer of 2007, Dr. Brown announced to Mr. Zuill that he was at war with The Royal Gazette.

Since then, he has frequently publicly lambasted this newspaper, withdrawn Government advertising and ordered Mr. Jones to reduce communications.

The Premier's critics, including international media organisations and many within the Progressive Labour Party, describe the move as a political effort by the Premier to deflect criticism and clamp down on free speech.

Speaking about reporting standards at the Island's newspapers yesterday, Mr. Jones said: "I think too often in our local news, whether or not the writer of the story likes or dislikes a newsmaker has too large a bearing on the outcome of the story.

"This trend needs to be arrested. It's petty and it is wrong."

Mr. Zuill responded: "I think the suggestion that a reporter's personal dislike of a newsmaker determines how that person is covered is unfair and is an insult to all reporters in Bermuda.

"If Mr. Jones believes that is the case, I would like to see some examples.

"If it then turns out to be accurate, then that is something that will be addressed."

On expats, Mr. Jones said: "Oh and let's not forget the news reporters.

"The reporting staff at both newspapers is tilted more heavily toward expats than Elbow Beach on Christmas Day. That's just the way it is."

Mr. Zuill replied: "In fact, we have four expatriate reporters and four Bermudian reporters who deal exclusively with news reporting as opposed to business, sport and so on.

"Taken as a whole, the editorial staff of The Royal Gazette is majority Bermudian by a long stretch, and the news desk — where decisions on story placement, headlines and so on are made — consists of four Bermudians, one spouse of a Bermudian and one non-Bermudian.

"The Royal Gazette has worked extremely hard throughout my professional career to hire, train and promote Bermudians.

"This effort has been increased in recent years, and we have invested, at great expense, in sending our trainee reporters to the UK for a 16-week training course and to pursue full certification.

"So far, four Bermudian trainees have done that and two are on staff and doing very well. I am very proud of our efforts in this regard and I am disappointed that Mr. Jones has not acknowledged them.

"The reality is that very often we train Bermudians only to lose them to other roles, including the public relations roles Mr. Jones spoke of.

"I think the fact that I was the only person to offer Mr. Jones a job when he returned to Bermuda counters the inference that The Royal Gazette is not interested in diversity or Bermudians.

"The fact that he was hired away is an all too common experience."

Mr. Jones continued: "If you are an expat who is a reporter and you spend a lot of your time around other expats — which would be entirely normal — you are getting an earful in your social circle about politics.

"And according to the polls, we can presuppose the content of that earful.

"However, if you're Bermuda-born and black, you're getting a different earful in your social circles if you spend time with other Bermuda-born people who are black — at least that's the extrapolation one has to make according to the polls.

"My argument to you is that all of this has an unsuspecting influence on how news in our Country is covered."

Mr. Zuill replied: "One of the first rules of journalism is to beware of making broad generalisations about people, so I am surprised that Mr. Jones would do just that concerning the reporting staff of the Island's newspapers.

"At The Royal Gazette, we make every effort to encourage expatriate reporters to get to know the Bermuda community as well as they possibly can."

Tony McWilliam, editor of the Bermuda Sun, responded yesterday: "It's never completely fair to generalise but Glenn's points are valid.

"There should be more black Bermudians in Bermuda's newsrooms.

"I am always on the lookout for interested candidates but, unfortunately, the best of them are more interested in working for premiers or in public relations.

"It's dangerous to assume too much about a journalist's political leanings based on their skin colour or social circles but I agree with Glenn that personal bias appears to get in the way of a lot of political reporting in Bermuda."