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The British media is failing the public

Thu Jul 09 01:04PM

The media is failing the British public as badly as parliament. As a recent movie put it: Who Watches The Watchmen?

By Ian Dunt

We all know there's something deeply wrong with Britain today. A sense of dissatisfaction and dull resignation haunts the country. For months now we've savaged politicians. That problem is still very, very far away from being fixed. But it's unfortunate we've isolated our anger in one area.

Today's Guardian allegations about an apparent culture of law breaking and privacy invasion at the News of the World could give us the opportunity to look closely at the British media, and ask ourselves how it is failing us. We'll be lucky. The trouble with scrutinising the media is that it's the media who have to do the scrutinising. And people tend to not to defecate in their own backyard.

As the recent movie posters for the Watchmen blockbuster put it: Who Watches the Watchmen? An unwritten and unmentioned rule exists in Fleet Street, and has done ever since journalists set up offices there. You don't attack a fellow hack. For years, commentators would write nosey, judgemental stories on politicians' sex lives while pursuing highly dubious embraces of their own. But who would write about it? Only themselves. And they were the last people who would.

But now things are infinitely worse. The media failings are legion. Too many Westminster journalists accept small exclusives in exchange for good behaviour. Too many of them are genuinely friends with those they report on.

The decline of newspaper sales has crippled mud-raking journalism, with fewer and fewer journalists producing more and more stories. The only way to do that, of course, is to be at your desk, and we are now in the position where many of the stories journalists produce are based on press releases or one of the news feeds, like Reuters or the Press Association, rather than their verified account of an event.

The public have become part of the problem. There is outcry at the increasingly populist subjects covered by broadsheets, but editors don't commission work which doesn't sell. I have personally felt the sinking feeling in my stomach as a serious political story I spent hours working on was outperformed ten times over by a fluffy piece I scribbled up with the word 'celebrity' in the title.

The ownership of media companies has become a silent national scandal. How can we possibly treat media ownership as if it were any other commodity? It is not equivalent to milk, or racing cars, or DIY tools. It is the means by which the issues of the day, and the public's opinion on them, are framed. Very recently, Lord Carter's Digital Britain review suggested top-slicing the licence fee. Rupert Murdoch hated the idea - not because he loves the BBC, but because it helped out his rivals at ITV. And, predictably, his newspapers began to trot out precisely the same line we know he believes in. From America's unspeakably appalling Fox News, to Australia's suitably titled The Australian, to the UK's Sun and the Times, Murdoch must be considered one of the most powerful men in the world. Where is his democratic legitimacy? It is non-existent.

And finally, there is the puerile attitude of the media, which focuses endlessly on trivial nonsense with only the most cursory attempt to pretend it's of any genuine interest at all. After the editor of the News of the World, Colin Myler, lost the Max Mosely case, he told reporters: "It was of legitimate public interest and one that I believe was legitimately published." The sexual mores of the head of Formula One is not a matter of public interest. It is something which is interesting to the public, which is a different matter entirely.

There are pitifully few criteria upon which to say that someone's sexual habits are any of our business. Promoting celebrities to the status of role models - as in the case of Kate Moss - is usually preposterous, almost as preposterous as pretending a supermodel taking cocaine is remotely noteworthy.

Where MPs especially, or those in the public eye in general, partake in behaviour which explicitly runs against statements they have made, or positions they hold, that is in the public interest. But the standards should be strict. Even in the case of footballers, who are undoubtedly role models to many, it seems childish at best to pay any attention to their sexual habits, or even their drug use.

This attitude - typified by the Mosely case - represents one of the most puerile, unpleasant aspects of the British character: the twitch of the curtains, the nosey, sniggering interest in other people's personal lives. On the whole the British are far more progressive than this, and as a nation, we believe fiercely in privacy. But most tabloids seem obsessed with bringing out the worst part of our character.

That we should have editors arguing for the legitimacy of this kind of journalism when serious political coverage is lying dead in a ditch is deeply humiliating to my profession. The case against the media is so severe it appears conclusive. We desperately need to give it the kind of scrutiny politicians receive. But will we, as an industry, be brave enough to do it?

There is hope. And that is the curious irony of today. It took decent, investigative British journalism, from the rather remarkable Nick Davies, to uncover a story about bad, unpleasant British journalism. All is not lost. But it will be, if we don't start doing something about this situation now.

Comments31 - 40 of 314

just one more thing, WHY are we talking about this its not like its going to matter, it wont change anything it wont improve our lives, lawers, politions, jornalists and bankers are all s@#$% but they have the power and we are reminded of that when we @#$% about them in blogs. it realy changes nothing, sad but true

From starbuck_omega2006 on Thu Jul 09 03:01PM
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i dont read the newspapers or comics if you prefer, most of what is writtern has to viewed with suspicion until its proved to be true by more reliable information, lets face it no speaks the truth in this country anymore if they ever did, political parties are all full of bull so why should any one else be any different, like the song says "question everything or shut up and become a victim of authority"

From dennisproct on Thu Jul 09 03:04PM
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100% correct, also read RISK by Gardiner, it covers in some detail how the media have blown up minor health issues, crimes etc to make us the most frightened generation whilst we are, in truth, simultaneously the safest and longest living ever. All the hysteria about SARs, Ebolo, Avian Flu, BSE, Swine Flu, Flesh eating virus, salmonela in eggs/chickens etc etc etc all about selling papers and getting viewers/listeners and not about informing the public. You can't rely on the media for accutate information or any sense of responsibility.
Fletch.

From rouse_simon on Thu Jul 09 03:06PM
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Well written Ian. Thank goodness there is someone out there with your opinions. I agree with you. Please keep going don't give in, we all need you.

From ygibbins on Thu Jul 09 03:07PM
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Nice piece Ian; like many, I too no longer buy or read even the free newspapers, except the FT which is the last bastion of quality info. Sales have fallen as a result and editors are increasingly desparate to find the occasional blockbuster story that will compensate, but these do not generate no regular readers, they just slow the decline. I too hate Fox News and indeed Sky News. Murdoch thinks he controls info and influences our thought, he creates dissent and division by reinforcing our weaknesses, that's evil by any definition. He stunts our growth as a global society. The hypocrisy when the media accuse the government of spin is staggering, and I'd like to see top media folk's expenses made available online. They haven't the guts or integrity to do it! We need to collectively stop buying newpapers to allow something better to take their place.

From sp23264 on Thu Jul 09 03:08PM
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Simple. STOP giving money to these ghouls. I have more respect for a common PIMP.
The british public are themselves as much to blame for reading these toilet rags.
I have travelled widely and cannot find any other people like the brits for being so obsessed
with the lives of those who's images stare back at them from their tv screens. Celebs ??
GET OUT of the damn house and get a life !! That is the celebrity. LIFE !!
I NEVER buy papers and no longer own a TV. With the internet for real world affairs news etc. theres absolutely no need for either. If you use an iplayer program you can bypass ads and commercial rubbish. So the public have themsleves to blame because if papers didnt sell these gutter level parasites wouldnt have a so called job. The worst are all of the puerile red tops and associated voyeuristic glossy mags which basically insult the common intelligence.
I am not really interested in Britney Spears cellulite or what colour underwear some microphone chewing bawling nobody from "britain has talons" is wearing. For Gods sake widen your minds you brits !! Football booze and media tripe. The british staple diet. How sad.
DONT BUY THESE RAGS !!!

From mywayjesus on Thu Jul 09 03:09PM
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Don't think it is just the press. TV and radio contributed massively into talking us into a deep financial recession that was damaging to every business in the UK except guess who. Also they are currently over-reporting the few losses suffered by forces in Afganistan and over-reporting the risk of Swine flu - the only people who have died were already very ill with something else, but the media had to be shamed into acknowledging this as it dilutes the impact of the story. ANYTHING to sell a paper and get another viewer/listener truly SHAMELESS.

From rouse_simon on Thu Jul 09 03:13PM
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I can't help noticing similarities between some journalists and most politicians - both manipulate or ignore facts that don't produce the required output for their vested interests. Too much commercialism and no morals. I think the government is trying to dumb us down generally and muddy the water wherever they can, in the hope that we won't see their devious actions, often new regulations, hidden behind a fluffy non event story or an "on standby" law to be released in the wake of some global disaster. These two groups probably work together at such times - a bit like Bully Brown and Mandy. Needs must.
MPs and lawmakers hid their gravy train activities from us - not daring to upset the club and losing their perks. Journalist and solicitors are very much the same and rarely attack their own.
We are turning into morons because we aren't encouraged to use our brains. Schools/exams for Dummies with universities wasting time trying to bring plastic A levels up to the real standard. Political correctness stopped us using our mouths.
I rarely watch TV now - prime time is taken up with soaps or reality TV. Brain mush. Then there's the Channel 5 do@#$%entaries, 5 minutes of info and 55 minutes of waffle, repeating themselves in case we forget what was said a nano second ago. As my Dad used to say "They talk a lot but don't say much".
It's a shame that there isn't a true non profit making newspaper that we can refer to with confidence. I knew all was lost when quality newspapers introduced Bingo. Everyone and everything seems to have an angle these days and can't be trusted to tell us the truth. Integrity is a long forgotten principle.. Perhaps a code of conduct could be introduced for journalists that, instead of being fined when reporting lies (which most newspapers can afford without pain), their newspaper presses should be forced into silence for a few months. That may make them think twice before reporting irresponsibly.

From su.sunstone on Thu Jul 09 03:25PM
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Well said david_j_dixon re: post 26!
People who perpetuate ludicrous conspiracy theories like the fool to whom you replied really deserve nothing but contempt from right-thinking members of society. I'm surprised it's taken as long as it has for the 7/7 conspiracy theories to surface given how quickly the 9/11 fantasists were to create tales of thermite bombs and the like.

From stan_and_kyle_2000 on Thu Jul 09 03:31PM
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I agree with the article, but I think he forgets that most people have very dull lives and celebrities are seemingly more exciting, so we want to read about their exploits. It's all very well writing worthy pieces (which I enjoy reading personally) but if the people who buy the paper are having a bad day or just want cheering up they are not going to sit down and read about how the world is coming to an end because of global warming, no they would much rather read about the latest stupid thing that Katie Price has done and feel better about them selves! Basically we know they press don't always tell the truth, so how do we know what some sleazy government official in Sri Lanka did or how many trees were cut down in a South Amreican jungle that day - if those stories were true or not? We don't we just have to decide whether or not we trust that journalist. The problem with journo's is they have an agenda and that is to get prestige and money - at any cost!

From round20it on Thu Jul 09 03:49PM
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