I was in Leeds yesterday for an excellent conference organised by the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom North on the theme of ‘Post Election Policies for Media Reform.’ In the current climate never was the subject more relevant yet the concept of reform less achievable. The word ‘reform’ was itself questioned, since it could loosely be interpreted as leading to improvement, but when the government for example talks of BBC reform, that’s not what thy have in mind. More Murdochisation and commercialisation is the driving force there. Not that the BBC could do without reform, for example by trying harder to understand its duty to deliver balance. That’s hard to achieve when it takes its cue from the right wing media, which so far as print is concerned is almost wholly dominant. Nicholas Jones, the BBC’s former industrial and labour correspondent gave an insider’s view of the forces at work within the Beeb. Little things that shift the narrative—for example, how the business and finance agenda has overwhelmed the old industrial and labour agenda with a concomitant shift in staff resources. I don’t think he was lamenting the demise of some golden age, but there seems little doubt that what the BBC presents us with, at least in its news bulletins and some current affairs coverage is gripped by the ubiquitous force of capital. And whilst there are many ways of getting the ‘news’ these days, apparently 78% of us still trust the BBC to deliver it to us. Jones also presented a slide show illustrating the vile election content of the tabloids—I saw their headlines every time I went to the newsagent, but clearly their inside pages amounted to a form of pornography—setting the tone and providing legitimacy for the even worse stuff on social media. Yes, we now have election porn, or perhaps it should be called propaganda porn, since it is not confined to election periods.
The hard part of any debate about media reform for the left is to envisage what reforms could realistically be achieved. The merest hint of wanting a responsible press leads to hysteria in editors’ offices, with all the usual guff about attacks on press freedom (in reality press baron freedom). In the meantime the Labour Party and particularly its new leadership must not be cowed by the Tory press, and should not be defensive and apologetic when falsehoods are splattered around. They deserve robust rebuttal rather than silent contempt. The British press will only be on our side when it can stand on our grave.
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November 2024
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