Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Newsworthy?
Upsetting as it is to admit, there are times when papers fail. Amid current speculation about the future of news in print, there is little promise of a long life if every paper is blaring the same headline and that headline is "Mrs Blair Might Have Said Something Nasty About Mr Brown."
The root of these stories is a comment reportedly overheard by journalist Caroline Lotter, who claims Mrs Blair said "Well, that's a lie" after the chancellor spoke about how proud he was to have worked with the PM. Not an unbelievable story given the track record Cherie's run up over the years, (conveyed to the public through the media of course). My question is whether this comment was worth reporting on.
Looking to the papers to provide accessible updates on the route their country's politics are following, members of the British public are being handed a report wrapped in a soap opera. If there is anything to be drawn from this fact it is that journalists feel the only way to get someone to pick up that paper is to spoon feed them. Is the assumption then that people have to be given something easy to digest? Lure them into the article with some gossip, only to hide the real news underneath. Like a parent sneaking vegetables inside a hamburger.
The root of these stories is a comment reportedly overheard by journalist Caroline Lotter, who claims Mrs Blair said "Well, that's a lie" after the chancellor spoke about how proud he was to have worked with the PM. Not an unbelievable story given the track record Cherie's run up over the years, (conveyed to the public through the media of course). My question is whether this comment was worth reporting on.
Looking to the papers to provide accessible updates on the route their country's politics are following, members of the British public are being handed a report wrapped in a soap opera. If there is anything to be drawn from this fact it is that journalists feel the only way to get someone to pick up that paper is to spoon feed them. Is the assumption then that people have to be given something easy to digest? Lure them into the article with some gossip, only to hide the real news underneath. Like a parent sneaking vegetables inside a hamburger.
# posted by Kielty @ 7:20 AM 
