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!
Vince Cable was heading for a fall once the party’s President Tim Farron MP began boasting (Any Questions, Radio 4 10.12.2010) that only the Liberal Democrats had the courage to “drag Rupert Murdoch in front of the broadcasting regulator Ofcom.”
Appointing two hard-nosed national newspaper journalists to the top posts of chief strategist and media spokesman is the clearest indication that Ed Miliband believes the quickest route to establishing his authority in the Labour Party is by exploiting the news media.
Senior Metropolitan Police officers were not alone in their failure to get to grips with the scale of the student protests against higher tuition fees. David Cameron’s public relations team were similarly at fault for a lamentable performance in presenting the government’s case.
A top priority for the new Labour leader Ed Miliband is to appoint a media strategist who has the authority to help develop a disciplined message and then try to enforce it across a fractious party.Another psycho-drama is already unfolding fuelled by the divisive negative briefings which are the legacy of New Labour.
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