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Campbell, Hilsum at media conference

The third media conference to be co-hosted by the BJR and the University of Westminster culminated in the presentation of the annual Charles Wheeler Award for Outstanding Contribution to Broadcast Journalism, and an interview and Q&A session with former Downing Street director of communications Alastair Campbell.

The What makes good journalism conference was held at the University’s Marylebone Road, London, campus on June 7 and 8, with academics and journalists discussing a range of topics, including the definition of good journalism and where it could be found. The future of the profession, with the impact of online and institutional media outlets on “good journalism”, was also debated.

Lindsey Hilsum, international editor of Channel 4 News, received the Charles Wheeler award from Lady Wheeler, the late BBC foreign correspondent’s widow, on the second evening. Lindsey Hilsum said: “Charles Wheeler was my role model and hero. I have always aspired to report in his tradition, and that’s why I’m overwhelmed and honoured to get this award. Charles once told me how much he liked our foreign reporting on Channel 4 News, so I also think it’s a recognition for our efforts on C4N to report foreign news in a way that’s serious but not solemn, as he did.”

Alastair Campbell, interviewed by BJR editor Bill Hagerty, warned that journalism risks losing even more integrity by shifting its centre of gravity further towards celebrity culture. The arrival at the event of Boris Johnson – son-in-law of Charles Wheeler – prompted a spirited and mostly hilarious exchange between the former New Labour spin doctor and the Mayor of London.

The evening concluded with a reception at which Campbell and Mayor Johnson mingled with journalism students.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following organisations:

BBC	Google
Channel 4	The Guardian
Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday	News International
The Daily Telegraph	Trinity Mirror
The Economist	Unite (T&G)

“Everyone says the Leveson Inquiry will result in a new governing body for the press. That ambition is either futile or stupidly small in scale. What we want to see is an end to villainy (and “hatchet jobs”) but with nothing lost: privacy, decency and freedom of speech cherished together, each protected without damaging the other. If we can identify people clear and ethical enough to want the same, clever enough to find the balance, incorruptible enough to stick with it — and who are happy to accept power, yet without a dangerous thirst for it — then those people should not be in charge of newspapers. They should be in charge of everything.”
— Victoria Coren, The Observer, February 12

From Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow’s Cudlipp Lecture, “Poised for Journalism’s Golden Age”, London College of Communication, January 23

“I want to be regulated, I want to be held to high standards — I don’t want the impact of my journalism to be tainted by even a hint of questionable ethics. I think it is absolutely right that there is a regulator that people can go to. Who are we to be above the opportunity for people to review what we’ve done? Furthermore I do not want to find my own editors somewhere in the mix. I want an objective regulator. I’m no Ofcom sycophant, but I’m afraid they have done an excellent job regulating my end of television: firm, fair, and intelligent… What are these print guys afraid of — if their story is right, is justified, they have nothing to fear from a regulator? Even the most hardened of tabloid journalists must have been mortified, embarrassed, even shocked at the rubbish that has tipped across Leveson’s desk; what age do these supposed journalists and editors who are the agents of this stuff live in… what lives do they live?

Of course, papers and TV are entirely different beasts… but I see no reason why print journalism wouldn’t benefit from a credible regulator in the same way TV has… I’m not suggesting Ofcom should take over. But an independent system with its own powers to investigate wrongdoing seems an essential given what has gone wrong in the past couple of decades. It should be at well over arm’s length from government, exclude any serving editors from its ranks, and probably — a very long way down the line — have recourse to the law to enforce its will. But I would hope that the mere spectre of the law would be enough to sort things out.

I repeat: If we can practise cutting-edge journalism on television with regulation I see no reason why an Ofcom-style regulator — although not necessarily an identical system — with full access for public complaint, should not be perfectly applicable to the print world too. If we have good regulation we don’t need a privacy law — it’s the sensationalist tabloid stuff that has triggered the desire for a privacy act. I admit I went through a phase of wanting one, but if we get regulation right we shall get privacy right.”