| NEWS IS now a commodity churned out by hard-pressed journalists working in “news factories”, using material largely provided by public-relations sources and news agencies. After only limited attempts at verification, it comes off the conveyor belt to meet the growing demands of media outlets — from newspapers, radio, and TV to websites and text-messaging services (Press, 18 April).
This bleak picture of today’s media has been painted by the investigative journalist Nick Davies. He swept aside the Fleet Street tradition that “dog doesn’t eat dog” to write a book, published earlier this year, which has sparked a bitter debate in media circles.
In Flat Earth News (Chatto & Windus) — so named because, he says, everyone thought the world was flat, until someone checked — Mr Davies writes: “Almost all journalists across the whole developed world now work within a kind of professional cage which distorts their work and crushes their spirit. . . I work in a corrupted profession.”
Using research carried out by Cardiff University, Mr Davies claims that falling staff numbers have led quality national newspapers to produce most of their content from public-relations sources or agencies such as the Press Association; and that they do so with little checking for accuracy.
He claims that stories make it on to the news agenda only if they meet the “rules of production” set by the accountants who are now running the media. These include: being cheap to cover; giving readers what they like to read; and being published widely elsewhere.
Ironically, Tony Blair’s former spin doctor, Alastair Campbell, made similar points in the Cudlipp lecture in January: “Despite the explosion in outlets, [there are] very few days in which there is not a single homogenous theme or talking point dominating the vast output. In an era of more pages, more space, more access, more talk, there is less said and done that is truly memorable.”
Flat Earth News has not been without its critics. Peter Preston, the former editor of The Guardian, challenged many of Mr Davies’s conclusions, disputed his figures about staff reductions, and questioned his view that there ever was a “golden age” of journalism. Other journalists have also hit back at the author’s depiction of their craft.
Yet the book has struck a chord with many who work in or with the media, and a visit to the book’s website reveals many pages of approving comment.
The debate is timely. The House of Lords Communications Committee is currently inquiring into media ownership and news provision. As part of this, the Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, is involved in robust questioning of editors and other senior media figures.
The challenge for faith when news becomes a commodity was put starkly by the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, in a lecture at St Bride’s, Fleet Street, in December. He said: “In a fierce ratings war, you sell news and information as you sell anything: by attractive packaging; by more titillating exposés on page three; by privileging the extraordinary and extreme voices; and by accentuating the conflict which is at the heart of drama.
“All the world is transposed into a stage with stock characters; and anyone who seeks to articulate faith in the public square must be aware of the parts — some ludicrous, some oppressive — which they are being invited to play.”
Seeking to explain faith is one of the tasks of the Communications Office at Church House, Westminster, whose staff work with journalists who produce copy for TV, radio, newspapers, and the web. Their knowledge varies from the — sadly, declining — number of specialist journalists who seek to understand the Church in all its complexity to general news reporters, who often need much persuasion to turn their preconceptions around.
We are, of course, just part of how the Church can seek to communicate professionally: from dioceses that see communications as a key part of mission to deaneries that invite the local newspaper editor or radio-station manager to speak at their synod and PCCs who nominate someone to be their media officer and reach audiences beyond the parish magazine (Comment, 2 May).
FLAT EARTH NEWS is a sharp reminder to the Church that — despite our unique insight into the life of the nation, and our mission to communicate — we have no more right to the media’s attention than any other organisation.
Yet we should resist the temptation to change our messages or actions to win positive headlines. Communications must remain the servant of the Church’s transforming, prophetic role. The challenge for the Church’s communications is to be as professional and confident as any other organisation in the 21st-century world. This means that we need to be aware of opportunities, such as festivals and times of community celebration or mourning, when the media is especially open to hear from the Church.
In a Flat Earth world, the grim alternative is that others will tell our story for us, and seek to squeeze us into their mould — or their pre-written headlines and copy.
Peter Crumpler is Director of Communications for the Archbishops’ Council. |
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