Volume 15, Number 4, 2004 |
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ContentsEditorial - Faces of the future 3The Great DebateJohn Lloyd - Selling out to the market 7Peter Preston - Bring on the competition 12 Kevin Marsh - Power, but scant responsibility 17 Nick Robinson - Get rid of those election blues 23 Ruth Gledhill - Oh, they of little faith 28 War zonesRhidian Bridge - A story to die for 35Tim Marshall - “No” can be the hardest word 41 Robert Waterhouse - The great divide 46 Geoffrey Bindman - Freedom of what information? 53 Clayton Goodwin - Caribbean crisis 59 Chris Moss - Junkyard journalism 65 BOOK REVIEWSRoy Greenslade on Anna Politkovskaya 71John Cole on Andrew Marr 73 Richard Stott on John Pilger 76 Martin Bell on Michael Buerk 78 Anthony Delano on Bob Clarke 81 Mark Bolland on Clay Calvert 83 Letters 86 The way we were 22 
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Editorial - Faces of the futureA disturbing report from the training committee of the Society of Editors (SoE) illuminates the width of the gulf between the ethnic-minority population of Britain in the 21st century and the tiny numbers by which it is represented on the staffs of newspapers. Disturbing, shocking even, but not surprising: anyone walking into a newsroom cannot fail to notice that the faces in it are generally as preponderantly white as they were half a century ago... [Read full article]
THE GREAT DEBATEThe battle lines are drawn. Critics within journalism believe that some external regulation might be necessary to curtail dubious professional behaviour and regain public trust. Sir Harold Evans has called for a new royal commission on the press. Others insist that press freedom is under fire and deplore journalistic practitioners for supplying ammunition to those who wish to see newspapers and broadcasters muzzled. The BJR invited three prominent professionals to state their cases...
John Lloyd - Selling out to the marketTrust in the media is beginning to occupy journalists more than it did. For a long time – and even now – we have been more concerned about our independence. We should be concerned to maintain independence, but in settled, rich democracies it’s not fundamentally at issue. We can have it if we want it, though it may entail some sacrifices. What is more urgent is the power of the media, and the effect of media on society. In the news business – the part of the media often seen as its moral and social edge – we haven’t thought much about, or debated, that... [Read full article]
Peter Preston - Bring on the competitionThe problem, alas, isn’t all rooted in principle. It inevitably gets personal, too. When journalists fall to debating their own trade – and falling out over it – then the motives flow as mixed, and as humanly fallible, as the metaphors. For the first, and crucial, questions to answer are always: What am I? Am I a professional, fulfilling my allotted place in society, revered by my peers and loved by my audience? Or am I, rather, an outsider, a freelance tradesman, a man or woman without much status or desire for adulation who exists to make necessary waves and who expects to receive precious few thanks in the process?... [Read full article]
Kevin Marsh - Power, but scant responsibilityJournalists are members of Britain’s least trusted profession: the press. More than 90 per cent of the population trust their doctor to tell the truth; less than a fifth trust the press to do the same. It’s not an essential condition of journalism. Trust in broadcasters is very much higher, and trust in the BBC higher still – in spite of Lord Birt’s and John Lloyd’s claims otherwise... [Read full article]
Nick Robinson - Get rid of those election bluesCheer up. The election’s coming. What do you mean – that doesn’t cheer you up? Journalists who could barely contain their excitement about the U.S. elections now look ahead with almost universal gloom to the long British campaign ahead. Set and graphic designers are gurgling with delight at their quadrennial licensed excess – election night sets that put the Pompidou Centre to shame, and magical graphics that can .y you down the chimney of Number 10 right into Tony Blair’s bedroom. Reporters and producers, meanwhile, are carping into their cappuccinos: “It’s going to be so dull. Everyone knows the result already. I don’t think I can bear it.”... [Read full article]
Geoffrey Bindman - Freedom of what informationThe Freedom of Information Act will come into force in January next. The Information Commissioner will then be able to demand production of information from government at any level, but his powers are circumscribed by the much criticised power of veto given to ministers over information which they consider should remain confidential in the public interest... [Read full article]
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