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Coping with the media, by Tony BlairMargo: Hi. Here is a speech Tony Blair made on Public Life on June 12, where he blames the cynicism about politics on the intersection between the media and politics. Hmmm, a bit rich for a man who has overseen Rupert Murdoch's expansion in Britain. Still, there's a point there. He says some similar thing to Al Gore in his recent book, The Assault on Reason. Anybody feel like reviewing the book? I've just read Scorcher: the Dirty Politics of Climate change, and there, the media's fault was to ignore the issue or, in Murdoch media's case, push the denialist line for all it was worth (see here for how The Oz tried to censor the book). But the real story in Scorcher is the inner club of big polluting companies and Howard which canceled programs encouraging renewables, locked out scientific opinion and supported sponsored 'think tanks' to spread the line. That book showed the media in general was completely outside the loop of power. Here's Blair's speech, for your enjoyment.
The purpose of the series of speeches I have given over the past year has been deliberately reflective: to get beyond the immediate headlines on issues of the day and contemplate in a broader perspective, the effect of a changing world on the issues of the future. This speech, on the challenge of the changing nature of communication on politics and the media is from the same perspective. I need to say some preliminaries at the outset. This is not my response to the latest whacking from bits of the media. It is not a whinge about how unfair it all is. As I always say, it's an immense privilege to do this job and if the worst that happens is harsh media coverage, it's a small price to pay. And anyway, like it or not, I have won 3 elections and am still standing as I leave office. This speech is not a complaint. It is an argument. As a result of being at the top of the greasy pole for thirteen years, ten of them as Prime Minister, my life, my work as Prime Minister, and its interaction with the world of communication has given me pretty deep experience, for better or worse. A free media is a vital part of a free society. You only need to look at where such a free media is absent to know this truth. But it is also part of freedom to be able to comment on the media. It has a complete right to be free. I, like anyone else, have a complete right to speak. My principal reflection is not about "blaming" anyone. It is that the relationship between politics, public life and the media is changing as a result of the changing context of communication in which we all operate; no-one is at fault - it is a fact; but it is my view that the effect of this change is seriously adverse to the way public life is conducted; and that we need, at the least, a proper and considered debate about how we manage the future, in which it is in all our interests that the public is properly and accurately informed. They are the priority and they are not well served by the current state of affairs. In the analysis I am about to make, I first acknowledge my own complicity. We paid inordinate attention in the early days of New Labour to courting, assuaging, and persuading the media. In our own defence, after 18 years of Opposition and the, at times, ferocious hostility of parts of the media, it was hard to see any alternative. But such an attitude ran the risk of fuelling the trends in communications that I am about to question. It is also hard for the public to know the facts, even when subject to the most minute scrutiny, if those facts arise out of issues of profound controversy, as the Hutton Inquiry showed. And incidentally in none of this, do I ignore the fact that this relationship has always been fraught. From Stanley Baldwin's statement about "power without responsibility being the prerogative of the harlot through the ages" back to the often extraordinarily brutal treatment meted out to Gladstone and Disraeli through to Harold Wilson's complaints of the 60s, the relations between politics and the media are and are by necessity, difficult. It's as it should be. The question is: is it qualitatively and quantitively different today? I think yes. So that's my starting point. Why? Because the objective circumstances in which the world of communications operate today are radically altered. The media world - like everything else - is becoming more fragmented, more diverse and transformed by technology. The main BBC and ITN bulletins used to have audiences of 8, even 10 million. Today the average is half that. At the same time, there are rolling 24 hour news programmes that cover events as they unfold. In 1982, there were 3 TV stations broadcasting in the UK. Today there are hundreds. In 1995 225 TV shows had audiences of over 15 million. Today it is almost none. Newspapers fight for a share of a shrinking market. Many are now read on-line, not the next day. Internet advertising has overtaken newspaper ads. There are roughly 70 million blogs in existence, with around 120,000 being created every day. In particular, younger people will, less and less, get their news from traditional outlets. But, in addition, the forms of communication are merging and interchanging. The BBC website is crucial to the modern BBC. Papers have Podcasts and written material on the web. News is becoming increasingly a free good, provided online without charge. Realistically, these trends won't do anything other than intensify. These changes are obvious. But less obvious is their effect. The news schedule is now 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It moves in real time. Papers don't give you up to date news. That's already out there. They have to break stories, try to lead the schedules. Or they give a commentary. And it all happens with outstanding speed. When I fought the 1997 election - just ten years ago - we took an issue a day. In 2005, we had to have one for the morning, another for the afternoon and by the evening the agenda had already moved on. You have to respond to stories also in real time. Frequently the problem is as much assembling the facts as giving them. Make a mistake and you quickly transfer from drama into crisis. In the 1960s the government would sometimes, on a serious issue, have a Cabinet lasting two days. It would be laughable to think you could do that now without the heavens falling in before lunch on the first day. Things harden within minutes. I mean you can't let speculation stay out there for longer than an instant. I am going to say something that few people in public life will say, but most The danger is, however, that we then commit the same mistake as the media do with us: it's the fault of bad people. My point is: it is not the people who have changed; it is the context within which they work. We devote reams of space to debating why there is so much cynicism about politics and public life. In this, the politicians are obliged to go into selfflagellation, admitting it is all our fault. Actually not to have a proper press operation nowadays is like asking a batsman to face bodyline bowling without pads or headgear. And, believe it or not, most politicians come into public life with a desire to My view is that the real reason for the cynicism is precisely the way politics and the media today interact. We, in the world of politics, because we are worried about saying this, play along with the notion it is all our fault. So I introduced: first, lobby briefings on the record; then published the minutes; then gave monthly press conferences; then Freedom of Information; then became the first Prime Minister to go to the Select Committee's Chairman's session; and so on. None of it to any avail, not because these things aren't right, but because they don't deal with the central issue: how politics is reported. There is now, again, a debate about why Parliament is not considered more important and as ever, the Government is held to blame. But we haven't altered any of the lines of accountability between Parliament and the Executive. What has changed is the way Parliament is reported or rather not reported. Tell me how many maiden speeches are listened to; how many excellent second reading speeches or committee speeches are covered. Except when they generate major controversy, they aren't, If you are a backbench MP today, you learn to give a press release first and a good Parliamentary speech second. My case, however is: there's no point either in blaming the media. We are both handling the changing nature of communication. The sooner we recognise this, the better because we can then debate a sensible way forward. The reality is that as a result of the changing context in which 21st Century The result is a media that increasingly and to a dangerous degree is driven by "impact". Impact is what matters. It is all that can distinguish, can rise above the clamour, can get noticed. Impact gives competitive edge. Of course the accuracy of a story counts. But it is secondary to impact. It is this necessary devotion to impact that is unravelling standards, driving them down, making the diversity of the media not the strength it should be but an impulsion towards sensation above all else. Broadsheets today face the same pressures as tabloids; broadcasters increasingly the same pressures as broadsheets. The audience needs to be arrested, held and their emotions engaged. Something that is interesting is less powerful than something that makes you angry or shocked. The consequences of this are acute. First, scandal or controversy beats ordinary reporting hands down. News is rarely news unless it generates heat as much as or more than light. Second, attacking motive is far more potent than attacking judgement. It is not enough for someone to make an error. It has to be venal. Conspiratorial. Watergate was a great piece of journalism but there is a PhD thesis all on its own to examine the consequences for journalism of standing one conspiracy up. What creates cynicism is not mistakes; it is allegations of misconduct. But Third, the fear of missing out means today's media, more than ever before, hunts in a pack. In these modes it is like a feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits. But no-one dares miss out. Fourth, rather than just report news, even if sensational or controversial, the new technique is commentary on the news being as, if not more important than the news itself. So - for example - there will often be as much interpretation of what a politician is saying as there is coverage of them actually saying it. In the interpretation, what matters is not what they mean; but what they could be taken to mean. This leads to the incredibly frustrating pastime of expending a large amount of energy rebutting claims about the significance of things said, that bears little or no relation to what was intended. In turn, this leads to a fifth point: the confusion of news and commentary. The metaphor for this genre of modern journalism is the Independent newspaper. Let me state at the outset it is a well-edited lively paper and is absolutely entitled to print what it wants, how it wants, on the Middle East or anything else. But it was started as an antidote to the idea of journalism as views not news. That was why it was called the Independent. Today it is avowedly a viewspaper not merely a newspaper. The final consequence of all of this is that it is rare today to find balance in the media. Things, people, issues, stories, are all black and white. Life's usual grey is almost entirely absent. "Some good, some bad"; "some things going right, some going wrong": these are concepts alien to today's reporting. It's a triumph or a disaster. A problem is "a crisis". A setback is a policy "in tatters". A criticism, "a savage attack". It is becoming worse? Again, I would say, yes. In my 10 years, I've noticed all these elements evolve with ever greater momentum. It used to be thought - and I include myself in this - that help was on the But here is also the opportunity. At present, we are all being dragged down by the way media and public life interact. Trust in journalists is not much above that in politicians. There is a market in providing serious, balanced news. There is a desire for impartiality. The way that people get their news may be changing; but the thirst for the news being real news is not. The media will fear any retreat from impact will mean diminishing sales. But the opposite is the case. They need to re-assert their own selling point: the distinction between news and comment. And there is inevitably change on its way. The regulatory framework at some point will need revision. The PCC is for How this is done is an open question and, of course, the distinction between balance required of broadcasters but not of papers remains valid. But at some point the system is going to change and the importance of accuracy will not diminish, whilst the freedom to comment remains. I am not in a position to determine this one way or another. But a way needs to be found. I do believe this relationship between public life and media is now damaged in a manner that requires repair. The damage saps the country's confidence and self-belief; it undermines its assessment of itself, its institutions; and above all, it reduces our capacity to take the right decisions, in the right spirit for our future. I've made this speech after much hesitation. I know it will be rubbished in [ category: ]
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Blair's was Murdoch's man, and now...
Fisk's reaction to Blair as the Middle East envoy
Robert Fisk doesn't seem to be too excited about Blair becoming the Middle East envoy.
Viewspapers are fine - if the views are Blair's
Isn’t it interesting that the one newspaper Blair singles out by name as ‘avowedly a viewspaper not merely a newspaper’ is the Independent – Fisky’s rag, and virtually the only UK ‘viewspaper’ (along with the Mirror) that has dared to speak out against the UK’s role in Iraq, as well as UK policy over Israel-Palestine?
Margo: Indeed. Good to see you with us, Jane.
Ern and some
Ern, I have thought of these why's as well, why do people fall for it?
I think there is more to it than mis-information, even though I agree with you it is a large component of the problem. As I was trying to say to Phil Kendall, people have a choice, and in this case, most, it seems have been mis-educated, or not educated at all, into going against their best interests.
I know many intelligent people, but intelligence may not mean insight and awareness and responsibility.
Greed,envy selfishness don't help in the process of forming a society based on justice.
People need your spirit Ern, they need to be concerned for more than their immediate family and friends and embrace life, not fear.
Cheers
Well done, Margo.
I can even empathise with Tony Blair about the vexing question of the pros and cons of a “Free Press”.
I have always believed that the media elects governments in democracies which, when you think about it, makes the media a dictator?
Under the Howard government, this problem is magnified by the blatant laundering of taxpayers’ funds of “paid for comment” which has increased in volume at every single federal election.
We all depend in one way or another, on the “information” which is given to us by a media that is after all, a corporation in the business of making money. As a business they will perform in a way that attracts customers with whatever “news” they can beat up, while profiting from normal advertisements and the customers.
But, when an election is near, at a given point, (as obvious in 2001 and 2004) they will perform the “slowly they turn act” of discovering that the government - who is their second biggest advertiser - is much better than they appear to be.
With no particular media bias, the people of Australia have been ready to have a “change for the better” and this promoted sales.
Right on cue, we now see unknown or untried corporation pollsters, like SENSIS or Galaxy, making a mockery of the tide of feelings that have risen since the WorkChoices legislation. It has hit hard against the families of the reported 250,000 who have been bludgeoned into signing up for a “White Coolie” existence.
It still concerns me that our citizens, bearing in mind the failures and dishonesty of this Howard government, can still be influenced by misinformation which, to the wary, defies logic or any meaningful standard of reasoning.
It concerns me that our citizens can be manipulated into believing that a corporation media, receiving multi-millions of taxpayer funds from a corporations’ government, would sincerely print anything that could “kill that golden goose”.
It concerns me that when a government like Howard’s “New Order” uses all means at any cost to maintain his autocratic regime can, and will, spin fears, hatred and negative politics about which our memories and common sense should advise otherwise.
There is no truth – only the powers that be.
NE OUBLIE
Guardian Online editor's response
Probably the best response I've seen to TB, by Emily Bell, the Guardian's Director of Digital Content - some of her observations:
New media
I wonder how much pressure new media is directly putting on politicians. I doubt very many feel pressured by Webdiary - who is asking questions now? Taking up the study of journalism this year again (perhaps purely for serendipity reasons, alas) I was often depressed at how often I would get passed off by politicians' secretaries (gate-keepers for gates that never open) and referred to previously published online material, or told to send my request via email. To me new media seems to have been a way to build up a wall rather than putting extra pressure on politicians to give out information. Most politicians seem to ignore new media publications (perhaps at their peril) and so much of it is made up of comment rather than journalism anyway. Email allows politicians (and others) to respond at their leisure (if at all), whereas the old-fashioned telephone once required that people knew what they were talking about and could give you an answer without reciting a script.
What Tony Blair describes seems to be an indirect effect of diversifying audiences away from the mainstream, with desperate tabloid efforts made to try and claw those audiences back. Everyone is under more pressure but nobody wins. The only people who are not under pressure are the audiences themselves - I wonder if we should start holding people accountable for their consumption tastes? I am reluctant to moralise but, then again, from time to time you encounter people who seem to exist solely for entertainment and choose to abdicate all responsibility for their democracy. I wonder how to start making citizenship sexy again.
Surreal
Hello Margo. I was doing some casual reading on an American blog and one of the posters mentioned a media concept named Information dominance. I kind of had similar thoughts that I called saturating the social environment. Anyway, don’t you find it frustrating when ideas that were insightful and true and ignored, become dominant at a later time, yet now are self evidently profound,when pronounced by the right people?
The only difference now is that they have become the dominant discourse. How many articles were written that were spot on about the deception over the Iraqi war? As you say, it’s strange for this article to be coming from Tony Blair, its almost surreal in fact, if we could actually go back in time and superimpose both Blairs.
Maybe that’s the strategy - to create a surreal mind scape, were reality is blurred. The media is totally under the control of the corporations and most politicians are also under corporate control, so it all sounds like a diversion to me. Even truth can become surreal and used to deceive when disconnected from time and place.