Volume 20, Number 4, 2009 |
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ContentsEditorial - Cry freedom... but quietly 3Not finally... Subjective views on matters journalistic 5 Brian Winston, Joy Johnson, Anthony Delano Jonathan Coad - PCC: secretive, biased and weak 13 Heather D Flowe, Sophia E Shaw, Ellen Nye, Joanna Jamel - Rape stereotyping and public delusion 21 Mark Seddon - Rethink for the new kid on the block 27 Another country Lynne Truss - She shoots, flies and stays 33 Keith Waterhouse - The Last Page 45 Robert Dover, Michael S Goodman - Spooks and hacks: blood brothers 55 Timothy Kenny - Europe: how the East is lost 62 Kate Webb - Mason: neutral voice, soul brother 71 Matthew Fraser - Five reasons for crash blindness 78 BOOK REVIEWSPeter Preston on Harold Evans 84Peter Wilby on John Kampfner 86 Mike Molloy on Mark Bryant 89 Phillip Knightley on Judith Butler 91 Martin Bell on Keith Kyle 93 Bill Hagerty on George Lansbury 95 Quotes of the Quarter 1 – 26 Quotes of the Quarter 2 – 32 Ten years ago The way we were 54 BJR events 80 Paul Foot award 96 
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Rape stereotyping and public delusionMedia reports shape public perceptions of rape victims and can even affect the outcome of trials, according to academics Heather Flowe, Sophia Shaw, Ellen Nye and Joanna Jamel. They accuse the Daily Telegraph of misrepresenting a research study into the factors involved in sexual coercion. They believe that newspaper articles that “frame rape victims’ behaviour in a stereotypical manner… create negative consequences for victims, rape-case prosecution and public safety.”
The Last PageKeith Waterhouse, who died in September, left behind a play about his lifelong love for newspaper journalism, especially in its Fleet Street days. In a tribute to the man who topped a 2003 BJR poll to determine Britain’s greatest living columnist, the magazine carries a scene from his play, The Last Page, featuring three veteran reporters and a young newcomer to the trade. Watch out for the penguin suit!
Blog: Brian Winston – Regulation: goodnight nurseJames Murdoch’s Edinburgh MacTaggart Lecture attack on Ofcom and the BBC was so blatantly self-interested and tendentious that it was easily dismissed by all right-thinking people. Now that it has been firmly adopted and amplified by politicians, who might all too soon have the power to mount an attack on these institutions to his and his father’s liking, it becomes a firm imperative to stand by the potential victims. Or does it?
PCC: secretive, biased and weakJonathan Coad, a media lawyer, is unsurprised at a survey showing that the public has no faith in the Press Complaints Commission. He writes: “My experience of dealing with the PCC since its inception suggests it is principally a cartel, set up for the purpose of ensuring that the lack of press accountability is preserved against any form of effective regulation and to the clear detriment of the rights of the individual.” He calls for its replacement by a truly independent body, with real teeth, accountability and openness.
Rethink for the new kid on the blockAlJazeera English, launched with much fanfare three years ago, promised to go where other channels feared to tread. But Mark Seddon, formerly AlJazeera’s UN correspondent and an ex-editor of Tribune, says it has failed to move into the United States, and it has suffered both from budgetary constraints and changes of editorial leaders. Despite that, its journalists remain dedicated and Seddon praises the channel for its many achievements.
She shoots, flies and staysLynne Truss explains how, despite her professed ignorance and dislike of sport, she was recruited by the sports editor of The Times to cover the 1996 European football championships. In a delightfully humorous account, Lynne recalls her experiences – reporting from a Macclesfield training pitch, a Brighton pub and an airship – and her eventual willingness to give birth to Alan Shearer’s babies.
Spooks and hacks: blood brothersRobert Dover and Michael Goodman analyse the complex relationship between intelligence agencies, the media and the public, arguing that it raises increasingly important questions about where journalists get their information from and how they go about reporting it. Spooks and hacks have more in common than might be obvious. Notably, say the authors in a series of challenging assertions, they both operate without the consent of the people about whom they are seeking information and then produce that knowledge for specific purposes.
Europe: how the East is lostIn the wake of post-communist liberation it was believed that fact-based, fair-minded journalism would emerge to spread the gospel of western democracy. But, according to Timothy Kenny, a professor of journalism who was formerly a newspaper foreign editor, the journalistic record in central and eastern Europe has been a disappointment. He looks at the continuing problems faced by journalists in countries where press freedom remains a distant hope.
Mason: neutral voice, soul brotherKate Webb profiles Paul Mason, the BBC Newsnight journalist who manages to make both interesting and accessible such complicated subjects as global economics and technological innovation. He reveals the links between his working class background in Lancashire and the way he approaches journalism. Two tips – listening in order to get at the truth and enjoying the facts that the truth does not equate with a preconceived notion.
Five reasons for crash blindnessVeteran business columnist Matthew Fraser takes another look at the reasons why the media failed to predict the arrival of the credit crisis. In his view the root of the problems lies in the structural dynamics of business journalism and the status to which professional journalists aspire. He identifies five traits to highlight his argument, all of which call into question the journalistic integrity of his colleagues.
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