Volume 22, Number 4, 2011 |
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ContentsEditorial - Tragicomedy of errors 3Not finally... Subjective views on matters journalistic Ben Fenton, Anna Botting, Michael Leapman - 5 Not the Leveson Report: The future of the press - 13 Donald Trelford, Geoffrey Bindman, Linda Christmas, Steve Hewlett, Tessa Jowell, Brian Hitchen, George Brock Michael Williams - I've seen the future and it's crap 37 Noel Young - What if Milly had been found alive? 47 Anna Blundy - A job worth dying for? Oh, please 53 Adam Macqueen - Private Eye at 50: the forgotten editor 59 David Wilson, Diane Kemp, Nick Howe, Harriet Tolputt - Long arms'-length of the law 64 Daya Thussu - Where big money controls content - 73 James Rodgers - Piercing the fog of propaganda - 79 BOOK REVIEWSYasmin Alibhai-Brown on Julian Petley and Robin Richardson 85Margaret Allen on William Rees-Mogg 87 Brian Winston on Linda Stratman 89 Kim Fletcher on Peter Lee-Wright, Angela Phillips and Tamara Witschge 91 David Leigh on Heather Brooke 93 Quotes of the Quarter 1 - 36 Quotes of the Quarter 2 - 46 Quotes of the Quarter 3 - 95 Ten years ago - The way we were - 58 Paul Foot Award - 96 Cover pictures, from top, left to right: Donald Trelford, Geoffrey Bindman, Linda Christmas, Steve Hewlett, Tessa Jowell, Brian Hitchen*, George Brock *David Levine Photography 
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Blog: Tragicomedy of errorsThe BJR editorial says that while the Leveson inquiry proceeds on its "long and potentially mind-numbing journey towards who-knows-what", the industry should consider reforms floated by the Mail group's editor-in-chief, Paul Dacre, such as an ombudsman with powers to investigate, summon journalists and editors, name offenders and impose fines.
Not the Leveson Report: The future of the pressHow should the newspaper industry address the problems that led to the Leveson inquiry and those aired in its early deliberations. Five journalists, a politician and a lawyer give their views...The former Observer editor revisits history to urge the creation of a Press Standards Commission with investigatory powers plus "an annual audit of the press, using academic research to check back on how accurately a sample of major stories has been reported." The solicitor believes the body overseeing press regulation requires greater resources and wider powers if it is to be more effective. And the law must offer cheaper and simpler procedures for people who take legal action. The journalism tutor, and former Guardian staffer, argues that how the press behaves is "a moral and ethical question that can be answered only from within." Therefore, owners and editors should accept that standards have dropped and take steps, before Leveson reports, to reform the news-gathering culture. The Media Show presenter thinks a new press regulator, PCC2, will require an annual audit, perhaps undertaken by the broadcasting regulator, Ofcom. But he is sceptical about radical changes in the face continued industry decline. The former editor of the Daily Star and Sunday Express advocates the creation of a Press Ombudsman but retaining the current PCC secretariat. Lay members - ie, "amateurs" - should be replaced by "respected elder statesmen and women of the newspaper industry." The head of journalism at City University London, and former Times staffer, advocates a completely new regime that takes account of the changing media landscape. "Regulation based only on newspapers will look positively eccentric as the business model for print continues its downward decline," he writes. The shadow cabinet minister and phone hacking victim wants to see the appointment of internal readers’ editors, or ombudsmen, at every newspaper. It is also essential, she writes, for "a clearer exposition of the tensions between the public interest and stories which are of interest to the public."
The bullying culture in newsroomsMichael Williams, a former Independent on Sunday deputy editor and now a journalism lecturer, reveals the reality of a culture where bullying has always been the norm. But he thinks it has got worse - newspapers are less principled nowadays.
What if Milly had been found alive?Noel Young, a former red-top editor, laments the closure of the News of the World, pointing to examples of its public interest investigative journalism. The whole country is poorer for its disappearance, he writes.
Private Eye at 50: the forgotten editorChristopher Booker was the magazine’s original editor. But, as Adam Macqueen reveals, he managed to fall out with two other co-founders – Willie Rushton and Richard Ingrams – edged him out. Though there is still no agreement on what exactly happened. Booker believes Ingrams feels guilty. It doesn’t sound like it...
A job worth dying for? Oh please...Anna Blundy's father, David, was a respected war correspondent who was killed by a sniper when covering a civil war in El Salvador in 1989. At the time, he was 44 and Anna was 19. She followed him into journalism and eventually became a foreign correspondent for The Times. She tells why she eventually took a very different view from him of parental priorities.
The police and the pressIn the wake of revelations about inappropriate relationships between police and journalists, is there a way for them to work together for the greater good of society? Four academics ponder the question after conducting in-depth interviews with four Senior Investigating Officers.
Where money buys the newsDespite booming newspaper sales in India its journalism is mired in an ethical crisis due to the phenomenon of 'paid news.' This involves people and political parties paying for favourable coverage. Daya Thussu of Westminster University looks at some of the worst cases...
New media, old propagandaFormer foreign correspondent James Rodgers explains why the fog of propaganda persists in war reporting despite the proliferation of digital media. Professional media management techniques continue to be effective weapons of governments that aim to influence coverage.
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