Archive for the ‘Journalism and News Reportage’ Category
The BBC and the Jubilee
Comments (2)I thought that I’d said enough on this subject, however, this morning’s discussion on the Today programme on Radio 4 demands comment. Where I and others thought the problem lay was in the BBC’s uncritical coverage and subsidy (the concert was funded by the BBC it seems at least until the rights were successfully sold). But alas not. Actually, the issue was about the innanity of the coverage, particularly over the flotilla on Sunday. Seemingly, no attempt was made to explain the makeup of the flotilla – why particular ships were historically significant vis-a-vis others, for example. Viewers were treated to more parochial comments from observers on the banks of the Thames at the expense of historical enlightenment. The flotilla, therefore, was not treated as a Dimbleby event, but rather as a reality TV event.
Now, I did not watch any of it, so I cannot comment on the specifics, but the clips I heard on Radio 4 this morning did suggest that it was pitched a bit low. But what if the BBC got it right? Maybe this was not about history necessarily. Rather it was just a spectacle that did not really need additional commentary. The festivities – with the exception of the the service in St Paul’s – was not about history or even the queen. It was about those people who stood in the rain to watch the spectacle. Their hardships, stories and aspirations. Innane though it may have been, maybe it was spot on. The feelgood factor this morning after the long weekend of festivities is palpable. Isn’t it?
The Guardian
I have very mixed feelings about the Guardian newspaper. Since the BBC destroyed its website, the Guardian has been my homepage for news updated at an alarming frequency during the day. An article in this week’s New Statesman suggests that the newspaper is in trouble, having lost in excess of £70m over the past two years. Peter Wilby ‘interviews’ the enigmatic editor, Alan Rusbridger, and uncovers some of those bizarre decisions that have implications for the viability of the business. These include buying (now idle) printing presses that can do the ‘Berliner’ format and moving to new rented accommodation near Kings Cross and vacating the Farringdon premises which the Guardian owned.
Well worth a read.
You can see an extract here (ironically, the whole article is behind a paywall); http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/media/2012/05/exclusive-alan-rusbridger-profile-peter-wilby
American assassin of Afghanistan
A lone man with personal problems was responsible for the massacre of 16 civilians in an Afgahn village on 11 March. The soldier, a 38 year old staff sergeant, we are told, was under stress, had himself been injured and had recently seen some of his own comrades seriously injured resulting from Taliban attacks. It was too much for him, seemingly. He left his compound, found some houses in a nearby village and then shot 16 people in the head. Now in custody in the USA, we’ll see what justice is meted out.
The story needs unpicking somewhat. Robert Fisk, writing in the Independent, reports that something like this was anticipated. General John Allen addressed the soldiers a mere three weeks before against taking revenge against Afghans for American losses arising from the riots generated after American soldiers foolishly burned copies of the Koran. ‘Now is not the time…’ etc (not sure if any time is the time for murderous revenge, but we take the point).
The media has, however, bought into the the lone deranged madman story, rather than reporting that he was in actual fact a cold-blooded murderer of Afghan civilians.
At best, this is shocking news reportage – across the board. At worst, collusion. This is not what the news media are for. Shameful.
News Corp
So, no bid at the moment for BSkyB. It all seemed so easy in the end. There is still time to ressurect the News of the World for an edition this weekend. No need to have closed it, one senses?
Sky News
So, Rupert Murdoch will be able to buy BSkyB, but only if he makes Sky News an arm’s length operation.
- Rupert Murdoch
The issue is one of news pluralism. Murdoch represents a significant media magnate for the first time attempting to link both print and broadcast media.
Some media organisations, for example, the Guardian, are naturally opposed to this and have made their concerns clear to Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary. Hunt along with his boss, Cameron, have paid many visits in recent weeks to Murdoch Towers. Purely social, of course. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2011/jun/20/news-corporation-rupert-murdoch?INTCMP=SRCH
The political concerns have been largely commercial; notably, the impact of cross-advertising of newspaper titles and general television entertainment. But let us not forget all of that phone tapping that has been going on within the Murdoch newspapers; particularly disturbing is the news today (4 July) that those journalists tapped into the mobile phone of Milly Dowler that may have impacted on the police investigation into her murder (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/04/milly-dowler-voicemail-hacked-news-of-world). Maverick journalists, of course.
These worries are bad enough, but when one reads the adulatory words of former Sun editor Kelvin McKenzie in Friday’s Guardian (1 July 2011), one can see that the plot has not been understood. MacKenzie’s headline, ‘Thank God for Murdoch’, is sufficiently illustrative of his position. It is true that Murdoch was bold in building his satellite TV operation. The risks were high and he has been rewarded for taking them. But Sky News is a problem. It is not, argues MacKenzie, Fox News in the US. That is a very interesting statement. It suggests, rightly, that Fox news is far from plural, unbiased and legitimate. Whether Murdoch would want to turn Sky News into Fox News is a debateable point (would it serve his objectives in the UK?), but the maintenance of particular news values are certainly important.
Those values have served him well and maintain him as a serious power broker in UK politics despite being neither a UK national nor being elected. Good journalism is an essential part of any healthy democracy, but power of the Murdoch flavour is such that journalists do not need to be asked to ‘report’ in the right way. They do it as a matter of course. In Bachrach and Baratz’s famous phrase, this is the ‘power of non-decision making’. Journalists instinctively know what is the right way to do their (Murdoch’s) journalism. Murdoch simply does not need to make that call to the editor to achieve compliance.
Why Journalism is Culpable
Journalism in the UK is poor. The media outlets they support foster this. They report a very sanitised and formulaic news. Fortunately there are some alternative sources out there. Media Lens contributors (www.medialens.org) constantly re-interpret reportage for us. Aljazeera provides reportage that is unmatched in the UK (www.aljazeera.com) and John Pilger in the New Statesman is compelling; always challenging.
The Independent released in 2009 as a podcast a roundtable discussion between Ann Leslie of the Daily Mail (oddly), Robert Fisk, the Independent’s Middle East correspondent and Martin Bell formerly of the BBC. Readers of this blog may care to listen to it here: http://tinyurl.com/yzdguas
Be informed 