Sunday 6 August 2017

The MSM clears itself



Poor old John Simpson. He reads a piece in the Observer (naturally), sends out a tweet:


and fails to find that his Twitter audience has fully appreciated it. 

Indeed, his Twitter audience has been downright unappreciative in response.

People are saying that his tweet is "arrogant", that the 'Observer' piece doesn't "show" anything; it merely "claims", that JS has "lost his marbles", that the BBC is biased, etc. Others are being downright sarcastic (e.g. "This is the kind of honest introspection your industry needs John"). 

The Observer article in question - a long read - certainly defends the likes of the BBC. The author, Andrew Harrison, thinks that they getting it about right, and aren't biased. 

Naturally (as you do) I followed the links to see who Andrew is. He belongs to Remainiacs. ("REMAINIACS is a no flim flam Brexit podcast for everyone who knows that leaving the EU won't be un morceau de gateau. We're not sick of experts and we won't shut up and get over it.") 

Incidentally, one of the voices featured in the article is Newsnight editor Ian Katz. He acknowledges some problems. Here's part of what he had to say:
“It’s plainly the case that shows like ours could benefit from a greater degree of diversity,” says Katz, “not just ethnic diversity but of background, class and education. It’s a criticism that hurts because it’s got some truth to it.” Viewers need to see people on TV who look and sound like them if they’re going to be confident in what they hear. Katz describes an endless battle to ensure that Newsnight discussion panels are not solely composed of middle-aged white males. “If you were in here, you would see us with our heads in our hands looking at the guest list going, ‘This is ridiculous’.”

2 comments:

  1. Why do I get the feeling Katz will still be more prone to dial up Paul Mason to educate and inform more than any better qualified alternatives? Impartially, of course.

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  2. I'm quite sure there are people that aren't of my race, age group, economic class, sex or sexuality that share my opinions on a lot of things, but it isn't their race, age group, economic class, sex or sexuality that prevents them from appearing on the BBC.

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