A journalist of fifty years standing offers a personal and independent assessment of the often troubled relationship between public figures and the British news media.
My aim is to try to monitor events and issues affecting the ethics of journalism and the latest developments in the rapidly-changing world of press, television, radio and the Internet.
Expect too an insight into the black arts of media manipulation. So spin-doctors, Beware!
Remaining at ease in front of camera, and fearless in the face of hostile questioning, is a tough call when caught in the eye of a media storm, a challenge that did not unsettle the rail union leader Mick Lynch.
His skill in standing his ground while forcing several renowned television presenters on to the back foot won him many plaudits during the 18 months of strike action in the RMT pay dispute with the rail operators.
Taking on all comers at impromptu doorstep news conferences was a strategy that helped to establish Lynch as a media personality, a transformation that did not happen just by chance.
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Perhaps the best comparison when looking back at the hundreds of cartoons printed in newspapers and magazines during the 1984-5 miners’ strike is that they were the equivalent of today’s postings on social media, often provocative, abusive, and sometimes downright cruel, intended to prompt comment and debate.
The miners’ struggle against pit closures divided the country. Cartoonists from right to left offered their take on an unfolding and unyielding polarisation between the state and the mining communities.
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Rishi Sunak's cheerleaders in the UK's dominant Conservative supporting newspapers are urging on the government to press ahead faster and further with initiatives to drive wedges between Labour and the Tories ahead of the general election.
A champagne cork popped on The Sun’s front page (23.11.2023) as it applauded a tax cutting autumn statement that fired the starting gun for the 2024 campaign.
A new series of television documentaries to be broadcast next year to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the 1984-85 miners’ strike will aim to cast fresh light on many unanswered questions around troubling episodes during the year-long dispute.
After a lifetime’s interest in the way the news media can shape the outcome of general election campaigns, I am having to come to terms with a sea change in the way politics are reported and rethink so much of what I have written in the past.
Dramatic falls in the daily sales of Conservative-supporting newspapers -- and our near total reliance on smart phones and laptops -- has been transformative.
Increasingly news is communicated in headlines and delivered on social media, reducing the influence of carefully crafted newspaper campaigns and the impact of their front pages and political commentary.
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