- Kevin Marsh
- 20 Jun 06, 01:31 PM
Is it the job of a newspaper to "represent" its readers?
Tweak (or wrench) the paper鈥檚 news agenda to reflect readers鈥 prejudices 鈥 I get. Argue for and defend those prejudices 鈥 I get that too. And campaigning on their behalf 鈥 of course.
All good stuff, well within the finest traditions of Britain鈥檚 lippy, gutsy, argumentative, pluralist press.
But 鈥渞epresent鈥?
That鈥檚 what the claims it does 鈥 or has been doing with its campaign for a so-called 鈥淪arah鈥檚 Law鈥; a law that would enable local people to find out if a convicted paedophile were living in their neighbourhood.
It was in response to the , the Chief Constable of Dyfed-Powys and the child protection spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (listen to it here).
The Chief Constable鈥檚 criticisms of both the paper and Government was tough; likening the relationship between Ministers and the tabloid press to that between blackmailer and victim. And the World Tonight listeners who joined the debate seemed to share his view.
It鈥檚 absurd to argue that newspapers aren鈥檛 political players; campaigning does 鈥 and probably should 鈥 influence Governments, change public sentiment or the law. All the best campaigning journalism has a moral component; 鈥渟top this evil now.鈥
But can campaigning newspapers 鈥渞epresent鈥 anyone?
They can speak for them; articulate their views, or what they perceive them to be; hunt out the facts to confirm their readers鈥 views of the world. Press the case hard. And in doing all of that they play an important role in our messy and sometimes fuzzy democracy 鈥 but do they, can they, 鈥渞epresent鈥 anyone?
There鈥檚 a confusion here about the role of elected politicians and their non-elected critics. Editors have the right - the duty - to call for the heads of elected politicians they and their readers think have failed; and they have the right and duty to put the evidence that they鈥檝e failed in front of their readers. That鈥檚 accountability.
But that doesn鈥檛 put them in the same place in our democracy as elected politicians - for the simple reason that they represent no-one but themselves.
I can鈥檛 un-elect the editor of the News of the World, even if I want to. I can鈥檛 hold him to account for the consequences of his campaigns - intended and unintended.
That鈥檚 fine so long as he doesn鈥檛 claim to 鈥渞epresent鈥 me - for better or worse, I am one of his readers.
But once he does claim to represent me, then I want to ask him some awkward questions.
The obvious ones, like - how does he choose which readers he represents and which he doesn鈥檛 ? How do I change his mind or get him fired?
Or; what if he fails the readers he chooses to 鈥渞epresent鈥? What if the Government decides in the end that 鈥淪arah鈥檚 Law鈥 would be the charter for vigilantism that some claim and ? Does he apologise to those he 鈥渞epresents鈥 and resign because he鈥檚 failed to get them the law?
Or; what if he succeeds and 鈥淪arah鈥檚 Law鈥 is enacted? And grows? Does he take responsibility for the unintended consequence and compensate the victims? And does he resign, just as he鈥檇 call for an elected politician to resign whose legislation went similarly awry?
The press may be many things; argumentative and campaigning; a powerful and legitimate force in democracy, certainly.
But 鈥渞epresentative鈥? I think not.
Kevin Marsh is editor of the 大象传媒 College of Journalism
- Rod McKenzie
- 20 Jun 06, 09:26 AM
We've had a string of visitors to our morning meetings lately, from across 大象传媒 News.
Most of our visitors say the same things - but I was struck by one recurring theme. You don't say much, do you Rod? That's true and neither do other senior editors. It's not that we've struck dumb by some terrible creative vacuum that's hoovered all original thought out of our heads - it's a deliberate policy to take the dread out of those early morning brainstorms.
OK - why do we do it? Aren't editors supposed to have all the good ideas and be generally, sort of, in charge? Editorial grip, like?
Yes they are - and they do. But not, I would argue, at the expense of giving everyone a say and acknowledging that the best ideas often come from the most junior - least experienced and least jaundiced - staff.
We're also responding to a bit of feedback. Previous staff thought our process was a bit "scary" - not that there was shouting down and bullying - just that the pace was fast and furious and some people were left feeling pretty bruised. Some developed thick skins - others stayed schtumm.
We also did a bit of work with individuals on idea selling, positive posture, voice authority, confidence, eye contact and preparation - what's your killer opening pitch? What's your follow up to the knock-down question? How will you bounce back and not limp off into the corner to lick those raw ego wounds?
At the last count we've done this with no fewer than 24 individuals in the current Newsbeat and 1Xtra TX team and publicly encouraged the rest of the team to overcome their fear of "seniors".
There is one more key element in all this: The Audience is the real - though absent - Editor. The best ideas come from our belief that the audience is central to everything we do. Audience research, listener panels, real interaction with real people in their daily lives makes such a difference to our journalists' creativity. Their editorial judgement is centred in the audience's interests. Don't spend too much time talking to other journalists.
Does it work? Well, we're certainly not missing any stories this way - if the rest of the team haven't spotted something important, we can chip in at the end. And there's plenty of time to re-shape the unworkable or idea afterwards, but quite honestly this system doesn't produce those. In fact, it's far more about nurturing the genuine spark of brilliance from a young journalist - and not just the hacks, either. Some of our best ideas come from our broadcast assistants and admin team.
I was shocked by a recent conversation with a 大象传媒 lawyer who told me that when they had spoken in an editorial meeting they had been frostily told "we don't expect lawyers to get involved in this sort of thing". Whatever next? The audience chipping in with a request for story coverage!
Well, I'm asking for it - from our journalists and other staff, most of all listeners (we do this too) - and even the odd lawyer if they're passing. Always good to get a different take on Celebrity X-Factor, anyway.
Rod McKenzie is editor of Newsbeat and 1Xtra News
Among the audience reaction received by the 大象传媒 in the past 24 hours were claims that Newsnight inferred that people who opposed whaling did so only on sentimental grounds, though another caller was pleased at the emphasis given to the subject on programmes. There was also a claim that it was said people who opposed screening of embryos did so only on religious grounds when some people have other reasons. There was concern about the safety of children shown on Newsround firing party poppers over birthday candles.
This e-mail was also received:
The panels used to project the graphics and pictures on the back wall of your news bulletins show the lines where they join. Has no one else seen this poor quality of display.The weather map shows the flaws as it scans the country and the background is uneven when panned back. It looks as if some dodgy decorator did a quick job and will be back to finish some-time.
