Volume 21, Number 1, 2010 |
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ContentsEditorial - Game of two halves 3Not finally... Subjective views on matters journalistic 5 Paul Donovan, Joe Haines, Steve Hewlett Election 2010 Steven Barnett - Minding the regional news gap 13 Bill Hagerty - Andrew Marr: TV's political host with the most 19 Steve McNally - You go to war with the press you've got 29 Stephen Fay - Silence as Tiger's tale unfolds 37 Peta Buscombe - Freedom of speech is non-negotiable 43 Bruce Page - Libel: fear should be the spur 49 Self-employed journalism Steven Rowland - 642 reasons to be cheerful 55 Maggie Brown - Why freelancing is now a dead loss 61 York Membery - Who killed the News Chronicle? 66 Poem - The death of news: Martin Bell 73 BOOK REVIEWSKate Hoey on Robert Winnett, Gordon Rayner 75Joy Johnson on James Curran and Jean Seaton 77 Julia Langdon on Ian Jack 80 Emily Bell on Natalie Fenton 82 Tom Mangold on Harry Procter 85 Quotes of the Quarter – 36 Quotes extra – 79 Ten years ago The way we were 60 2oth anniversary celebrations 28 BJR/Westminster University conference 88 
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Editorial – A small (and perhaps temporary) victory for press freedomThere is growing concern about the spread of the so-called “super-injunction” which prevents the media from not just reporting an issue but even from reporting that such an injunction is in force. “A reek of star chamber about the whole process” is how the editorial in the current issue describes them. But the victory of the News of the World in challenging the super-injunction which sought to prevent their publishing details about the love-life of Chelsea and England soccer star John Terry is welcomed, though the editorial cautions that celebrations might be premature, given that the Government seems in no hurry to take action to restrict the spread of the super-injunction.
Minding the regional news gapThis year's general election could see the future of the local media becoming one of the central issues of debate. Steven Barnett, an advisor to the House of Lords Communications Committee's investigation into news and media ownership, suggests that the election will take place against a backdrop of “probably the most cataclysmic financial crisis in journalism since the beginnings of an unfettered press”. In particular he draws attention to the parlous state of regional news on ITV, which, combined with the crises facing local newspapers, could result in major reductions in professional journalism at the local level – a real threat to democracy.
TV's political host with the mostBill Hagerty profiles the host of The Andrew Marr Show, whom he describes as “the man politicians know they cannot afford to ignore in this election year and the anchor of what is arguably the most influential political programme on British television”. Marr discusses his interviewing technique, his previous career in newspaper journalism, his stint as BBC political editor, and the relationship between the media and the political process.
You go to war with the press you've gotMost journalists are not experts in military equipment, so when “informed sources” tell them that the Government is sending in troops to Afghanistan with sub-standard gear, they tend to believe them. But in most cases, says Steve McNally, they're wrong. And he should know: as a Territorial he served with the Royal Artillery in Helmand Province last year. Journalists, he says, are all too keen to take the bait of a “bungling government” sending poorly-equipped soldiers into battle, because it fits their particular narrative; but in so doing they are misinforming their audiences, misrepresenting the Government and undermining the serving troops.
Silence as Tiger's tale unfoldsStephen Fay examines why it took a car crash for the press to explore the rumours about Tiger Woods's marital problems, which had been circulating among golfing correspondents for some time before the crash. Citing sports journalists' similar reticence in the past to focus on incidents in the lives of Ian Botham, Don Revie and Bob Stokoe, Fay concludes that “many sports reporters have felt a greater loyalty to the people they wrote about than to the people they wrote for”. However, he also argues that radical changes in the culture of journalism, in particular its increasingly adversarial nature, allied with the widespread media obsession with the private lives of celebrities, have increasingly made such reticence a thing of the past.
Freedom of speech is non-negotiableBaroness Peta Buscombe, the newly appointed chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, clarifies the role of the PCC in the light of recent criticisms. She argues that the PCC was not set up as a “general regulator of all press behaviour” but that it was “primarily meant to deal with issues, both ethical and practical, that the law cannot capture. It therefore complements the law rather than competes with it. The PCC is at heart a complaints resolution and adjudication process”. She also explains how she has initiated a review of the Commission's governance structures, which will be a “thorough, fundamental look at how the PCC matches up to the challenges posed by the media in the 21st century”.
Blog: Libel: fear should be the spurBruce Page takes issue with current arguments that libel law should be made rather more defendant-friendly. In Page's view, fear, including fear of prosecution, is proper to modern investigative journalism, and, “especially if well controlled and well concealed, should be welcome as an aid to precision”. He also advances the argument that “journalism exists to do harm. Put another way, to do good to some people, investigative work must always damage others... Investigation and defamation are social hygiene, and must be astringent to have salutary effect”.
642 reasons to be cheerfulWhile most freelance journalists despair at the parlous state of the industry, Steven Rowland has some encouraging words for those seeking to make a living from freelance writing. Having set himself the task of pitching to every one of the 642 publications listed in the Writers' & Artists' Yearbook – and fully expecting a string of outright rejections – he was pleasantly surprised by the number of encouraging responses. He offers some useful advice about “forging relationships with editors” and indicates that journalism may be in better health than some of today's dire predictions tend to suggest.
Why freelancing is now a dead lossIn contrast to Rowland's reasonably optimistic tone, Maggie Brown is much more downbeat in her assessment of the daunting task facing today's freelance journalists. She talks to a number of formerly well-paid columnists as well some new faces, and concludes that life is tougher than it has ever been for today's freelances. While there are pockets of well-paid and reasonably secure commissions, most have to battle hard against a rising number of experienced former Fleet Street specialists while having to accept reduced fees, and be fearful even of going on holiday.
Who killed the News Chronicle?At a time when chocolate lovers are mourning the loss of Cadbury to the American giant Kraft, York Membery recalls another Cadbury sale 50 years ago when the much-loved and liberally minded News Chronicle was sold without warning by proprietor Laurence Cadbury to its mid-market rival Daily Mail. In a series of interviews with former Chronicle reporters, Membery vividly describes the anger, frustration and bitter disappointment that a paper selling 1.2 million copies should be so brutally closed down. In uncanny echoes of the crisis facing many papers today, he describes the financial crisis besetting the newspaper as well as the owner's manifest lack of commitment.
The death of newsTurning from his customary prose to rhyming verse, former BBC foreign correspondent and MP Martin Bell mourns the passing of “real journalism”. Authentic, old-fashioned news-chasing, he says, has given way to pseudo-news characterised by rumour, exploitation of private grief, fake sincerity and lip gloss for men. He casts today's TV newspeople as performers who “prance and strut before a video wall”, choreographed by the circus masters of an entertainment-led television industry.
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