Where do you get your news? Do you cross check other sources for corroboration?
I thought I'd check out the new TV channel GB News, recently launched by the 'big beast' of political journalism, Andrew Neil. Neil has been one of the best, most forensic political interviewers of recent years and has appeared to be scrupulously impartial in his verbal destruction of politicians of all stripes. A surprise, then, to see Neil as the face of a news channel that doesn't pretend to be impartial - indeed loudly claims to be 'anti-woke' and against the 'metropolitan mindset', 'identity politics' and cancel culture'. If you turn on to GB News, therefore, you wouldn't expect to be surprised by the thrust of its 'news' reporting.
You'd imagine Priti Patel, of all our British politicians, would be pushing her way to the front of the queue for an 'interview' (i.e. a platform for her views). And there she was: 'taking the knee is gesture politics' - you can see it on the GB News Twitter feed, if you feel the kneed.
Except. At 12:30 today, I watched Gloria De Piero (ex Labour MP and TV journalist) and economics/business journalist Liam Halligan co-hosting a three hour show "DePiero & Halligan" (so not "News at 12" or "The Lunchtime News", or indeed any pretence of being news). Gloria introduced an item from the Yorkshire Post on the number of Covid-related fines issued by the police in Nottinghamshire, which turned out to be largely breaking of Tier restrictions - remember those? - from however many months/years ago that those existed. Followed by someone called Sarah giving her opinions on the impact of continuing restrictions on 30 guests at weddings - cut to Gloria, nodding her approval of these views. There was no balancing item from someone in authority as to why it was necessary but, worst of all, it just felt very Radio 5 Live, members of the public blathering about local things no-one else is interested in. Basically provincial gossip. Is that it, Andrew?
I am a news sceptic, in that I basically don't believe there is such a thing as an unbiased presentation of news. If you are a reader of the Daily Telegraph, the Mirror, the Sun, the Guardian, you pretty much know the slant you will get on news items - indeed you read your paper of choice because you broadly agree with its general political stance. I read - and subscribe to - the Times, largely because its reporting of football and horse racing is supremely detailed and enlightening. I enjoy the Comments sections but always check out the authorship of a comment piece in order to evaluate its degree of impartiality. I watched last year's US General Election avidly on CCN, completely aware of (and enjoying) its anti-Trump bias.
I am absolutely not a fan of the BBC. Nothing to do with its impartiality or otherwise; I just don't believe it should exist. If there is a role for a public service broadcaster in a democratic country (something I dispute in an era of multiple news outlets), it should be restricted solely to news and news analysis. No competition with - and desire to eclipse - other media outlets, no drama, no sport, no provincial gossip and definitely no national cheerleading. And no licence fee.
So that's me; no pretence of impartiality, but I don't have to be. And no provincial gossip here.
Where do I get my news? Channel 4 News with the lovely John Snow. And Twitter which directs me to all sorts of articles. I dip into his Guardian but it’s not the paper it used to be. My father took the Telegraph for three reasons. It was the cheapest broadsheet back in the day, the crime reports were excellent and he had to know what the opposition were thinking. As for Andrew Neil he’s a climate change denier, very opinionated and as far from impartial as it’s possible to be so I’m not surprised to see him fronting the new right wing channel which sits well with his views.
ReplyDeleteAnd pays him £££££££
Indeed impartiality is impossible for anyone. It all depends where the fulcrum is.
What I do regret deeply is the demise of local journalism where well informed journalists kept a sharp eye on local government and matters of concern in their patch.
I wrote a long reply to this and it disappeared when I hit submit!
ReplyDeleteIt was mostly about the quality of Guardian (news articles, not opinion pieces which I don’t read as they are preachy and snide), Independent Online (centre but website doesn’t work well) and BBC (factual).
I hadn’t originally mentioned GB News which I assumed would end up as a marginal digital channel with a niche fanatical viewer base. But this case study from Australia has convinced me that it will actually do better than I expect, and appeal to a group that is ready for 24 hour panel show crap.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jun/19/gb-news-will-flourish-if-the-success-of-partisan-rightwing-tv-in-australia-is-any-guide?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other