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I think it's because Labour now have a leader whose views don't coincide aren't overtly centrist and so the press are playing the angle that he will be trying to exert some sort of Stalinist control over the party.
ffm-
Yes, it obviously started when journalists eavesdropped on Corbyn's shadow cabinet discussions.
The thing is that he is very far from being dictatorial. I personally don't think he's going to impose a three-line whip on anything. This is not only because I think he believes that's not right, but also because the press would then constantly go on about how he himself used to vote against his own party and blah.
I think he might say that he could well impose a three-line whip but not worry too much about people defying it, in his style, but then it's unclear what the point would be--reducing the number of dissenters?
Oliver Schick
Just how silly is it that journalists now constantly try to loiter in HoP corridors to catch a whiff of what's going on in Labour committee rooms? Is this new or have they always done that?
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2015/nov/30/corbyn-plp-syria-free-vote-mps-a-free-vote-on-syria-would-give-cameron-victory-on-a-plate-politics-live
I haven't heard of them doing this outside Conservative or Lib Dem committee rooms (assuming here that the Green PLP can just have an inaudible conversation to herself :) ).