大象传媒

Yes Sir!!

Consider us officially repremanded (not that I ever ridculed you Nick- or shouldn't I be saying that- Oh well)

Hi Nick,

The only comment I would make is that if you consistently seem to take a bias in a direction, people start to wonder if you also have taken your eye off the ball.

None the less, I agree entirely with the attempt to try to keep the focus on the politics not the reporter (though, in your reporting you are so often focussed on the political persons rather than the policies - so are we simply not just following your example?)

:)

It`s an old and trusted fall back to attack the reporter when you know you have lost your position on any subject,deflection is the name of the game Nick.I noticed this on newsnight last night this being done to Mr Paxman no less.There again your lucky in olden days they used to kill the reporter if the news were bad or not to there liken.Treat it like the pro you are Nick and just say water off a ducks back.

Nick,

Fair enough. But please answer questions that are posed directly to you without spin or abuse.

I think, you鈥檙e right to raise behaviour and attitude as a general point, Nick. Being disruptive and negative isn鈥檛 a helpful strategy for politicians, media, and the public. When the dirt starts flying it takes energy away from building positive consensus and into dealing with the fight, distracting effort away from building better outcomes.

I鈥檓 going out on a limb, here, but I believe the 鈥渞espect and responsibility鈥� agenda runs from this blog, through the nation, to the situation in the Middle-East. The key lessons of getting individual and social goals, processes, and outcomes on the same page is difficult but achievable. We become winners by helping everyone else win.

You touched, briefly, on the need for heroes in politics. I was a bit embarrassed to suggest this in an earlier blog but your raising it was useful. We鈥檝e all become a bit jaded and cynical. This damage gets in the way and is something we would be better off side-stepping. By seizing better goals, processes, and outcomes we can all be heroes.

If this penetrates British politics the next election could be sizzling!

Nick,

Isn't this plea another version of 'policies are more important than personalities'? Whether the personalities belong to journalists or politicians, they can't help but get in the way of rational discussion, as your own contributions illustrate.

Unfortunately in Journalism the man is often as important as the ball, because how we view the ball is always determined by the man. To stretch the football analogy to its very limits, the man is important because, depending on which side he plays, will determine which goal he wishes to shoot at. The position he plays determines whether he is defensive or attacking and whether he is good at putting spin on the ball.

I forget the German playwrights name, but he basically said you can't be separated from the thing you are viewing; neither can you present the thing being viewed to others without putting part of yourself in that presentation. Your perception of that event will be coloured by how you see the world.

The job of a journalist is to find the best way to present a story with as little of yourself in it as possible. You will be more successful with some stories than others, but if it's obvious that the reporter is not trying as hard as they ought then my feeling is YES, go for the man as well as the ball, because if they are telling us this is an objective view we should be certain that it is as objective as possible. When it obviously isn't an objective view, the man should be prepared to receive as much attention as the ball! After all, what some journalists say can be almost as important was what the prime minister had to say.

A very interesting blog, I remember hearing a few years ago that when Bush took office he made a new department full of people that browse the web looking for sites like this one to try and upset the blogs/sites by destablising them and arguing the right wing case while pretending to be just ordinary people.Well you never know Nick.

Couldn't agree more!

Perhaps one thing you should take comfort from is that if people are attacking you personally rather than attacking what you are saying, then it's probably because they can't think of any plausible arguments against your point of view.

Incidentally, I've been a regular reader of this blog since you started it, and have very much enjoyed reading not only your posts but also the many comments. Some are silly and pointless, but many others have great words of wisdom which seem to me to give sensible advice to any journalist.

Perhaps the next time we have a slow news day you could write a little something on what you have learnt from this blog and any changes you have made to how you do your job?

Nick
Are you asking us to keep off the personalities and concentrate on the issues, so we shouldn't discuss personal differences but policy differences (and I quite agree with that).
Was that what you were saying when all we heard from many TV and newspaper hacks at the time of the Labour conference in Manchester was about the personal disagreements between Mr Brown and Mr Blair.
Consistancy is a wonderful thing..........

Perhaps the rational discussion should cover the role the media plays in modern politics. Should the press have an influence on policy? or should it stick to reporting, without bias and analysis, the unstoppable deluge of BS that pours from our politicians mouths.

I enjoy Nick's analyses and he, along with other political journalists, helps me understand the twisted language that our politicians seem to enjoy using.

By the way The German Playwright was Bertolt Brecht and I guess instead of the word IMPORTANT I should have said "what some journalists say can be almost as INFLUENTIAL as what the Prime Minister had to say."

For me though Nick I have a alot of respect for you and your opinion, I just think that sometimes you can seem to lean in one direction..... maybe I'm wrong, but that's how it seems to me. I'll leave it to the bloggers to guess whether I mean left or right...

Cheers

Hmm, didn't expect this....

Putting my head above the parapet once more - if you want to see what unbalanced reporting is really like, check out the US Fox news site (One of the many worldwide news sites I frequent) You'll never complain again.....perhaps.

"focus on the ball, not the man"

From a political journalist! How many times have politicians demanded exactly the same from journalists? Pot, kettle, black?

As this blog regularly contains critics who claim bias both for and against right and left, I would suggest that the coverage is pretty neutral. I may not always have agreed with a particular analysis of events, but that, surely is the nature of politics. (well, everywhere except Stoke-on-Trent anyway!)

Well done to comment 10- thats why we all love Nick- I am sure you dont mind a few complements hey Nick?!!!!

Hi Nick,
I think bloggers who have argued that we shouldn't attack you personally for your views are absolutely right. It would be unprofessional, undemocratic, and just plain rude. However, if you, or any other journalist for that matter, are giving us a view of an event which seems overly weighted in favour of any one perspective (or Party) and the reporter consistently does that, then we should be able to tell that journalist that they aren鈥檛 being as balanced or as fair as they ought. There is far too much 鈥榩re-digested鈥� information in the media today and people aren鈥檛 being allowed to make their own minds about how to think about certain events or people. Do Journalists think the audience is stupid?

I personally don't want to be told, for example, that David Cameron is a dynamic and charismatic politician who has the personality and potential to become a great Prime Minister one day, when clearly, to me, that is complete baloney. (Not that I'm saying you ever said that).

What I am saying, though, is that, both these views of David Cameron are subjective and it should not be within the remit of a journalist to impart unsubstantiated views like these to a TV, Radio or Print audience (unless of course the journalist and his wife happen to invite me round for a late night dinner party one evening and, whilst chewing through a mouthful of cannelloni and slurping down his Chateaux Lafite, he happens to mention, in passing, that this is his view of Mr Cameron ).

So no, let鈥檚 not shoot the messenger鈥� quite right too鈥� unless of course the messenger can鈥檛 keep his subjective views to himself鈥� and even then let鈥檚 not shoot him, let鈥檚 just quietly take him off to one side and gently draw his attention to the ugly Cannelloni stain streaking down his blue tie. (Not that I鈥檓 saying you can鈥檛!)

All the best Nick.

Oh dear! This thread sounds a bit like the Angus Deaton syndrome. i.e. The messenger actually becomes the news!
Trouble is Nick that the 大象传媒 seems these days to have become part of the labour spin machine since the digraceful Hutton report and I guess that you are seen to be sucking up to them. Shame really because I like your reporting style. It always comes across as a bit tongue in cheek.
I guess we will never know if there has been any kind of restrictions imposed upon your reporting but sadly this is the price we pay when a government interferes with the media as they did in the David Kelly/大象传媒 case.

In reply to #17,
Equal criticism from Left and Right does not mean the person getting criticised is neutral. Otherwise "neutrality" changes with the composition of the audience/electorate/country - a journalist from the USA and a journalist from Pakistan would have to report completely different stories on the Palestine issue in order to both qualify as neutral! The worst case of this is in the US where many of the public don't believe in global warming despite hard scientific evidence so a newspaper would have to not report a science in order to be "neutral." No, neutrality is reporting the events and facts objectively, regardless of how many people disagree with you from which side. Of which, I believe Nick does a very good job.

Well Paul, you left us to guess if Nicks has tendency too the left or the right,well i believe he swings three ways "not because he is reporting outside and the wind is blowing him about"he simply like's to tell it like it is; a bit of red then a bit of blue with a touch of yellow, just to wind us up!after all his job is to induce debate and alternative response.

Hello, I'd like to make a general point in that television reports often chase the headline or sound-bite that the newspapers will pick-up and use for editorial comment.

I would expect that given the nature of journalism without overt party-political bias, that broadcast media would be able to offer more background information than newspapers are willing or able to. Useful examples would be on the subjects of 'health service funding, how budget defecits arose', and the wider implications of social exclusion as opposed to the seemingly endless 'veil, good or bad'.

The inability of news reports and reporters to rise above the level of "yah-boo" politics is either due to lazy reporting or unreasonable demands for immediacy of news-worthy items.

With quizically raised eyebrow I withdraw all previous comments off topic. Espescially those raising this point earlier ;)

Promise to do better sir!

( Also happen to think you might want to reply when someone asks you a question Nick, the interactivity has been a bit one sided thus far)

( Also happen to think you might want to reply when someone asks you a question Nick, the interactivity has been a bit one sided thus far)

I think Mr Robinson already has a job to do, and I understand a family to support.

I suspect Nick probably does lean a little, but very, very few people are both political and intrinsically impartial.

I think does a fine job as a both a journalist as a blogger and those who disagree are foolish stupidheads.

We do keep our eyes on the ball.
Nevertheless you do know, for example, what some cricketers do to the ball.

Everything in moderation. If the author makes an obvious error then it should be highlighted. But just bashing NR for the hell of it serves no purpose. Lets remember that this is a political blog and politicos are hardly the politest people on the planet. Atleast the rants are usefull in exposing prejudice, and NR generally prints them so we can't accuse him of any overt censorship.

"focus on the ball, not the man"

From a political journalist! How many times have politicians demanded exactly the same from journalists? Pot, kettle, black?

The difference is that the personalities of politicians can directly affect the nation by influencing policies.

Since when did a journalist's personality affect a country?

Nick:
I regret to inform you that it is, occasionally, necessary to focus on the man because that is what the ball is mainly about.