Bias, Camera, Action!

Blimey. As Paul Mason would say, it's all kicking off on Twitter tonight between ITN veteran Alastair Stewart and Newsnight's incoming policy editor Lewis Goodall:

Lewis Goodall: Am going to write something about the cataclysm of the Lab results in next few days. But as tempting as it is to get consumed by Labour watching and recrimination (as most on here now are) we shouldn’t forget the govt hardly covered itself in glory in the conduct of the election.
Alastair Stewart: I earnestly hope you include a thought or two about how we, in the media, performed...
Lewis Goodall: I’m not minded to opine about the work or failings of my colleagues. But I’m sure we can rely on you for a thought or two, Alastair.
Alastair Stewart: There is more in this than you probably intended. It is deeply and profoundly disappointing.
Lewis Goodall: I am deeply introspective about my journalism and journalism more generally Alastair. Unlike you, however, I don’t sit there night after night attacking the journalism of others, deligitimising others and setting myself up as some kind of arbiter of what journalism is. To do so fuels the cynicism of journalism we both seek to avoid. I’m not going to get into any more of an argument with you about it, as you seem so desperate to do day after day. Happy to take it offline.

They didn't. It continued:

Alastair Stewart: We tried that; you didn't listen. Partiality in broadcast reporting is what fuels cynicism. I never once named a name. Tonight I asked you to reflect on 'our' collective performance. You attacked. So revealing.

Lewis Goodall: You do nothing but attack. Repeatedly and obliquely to other journalists. Just because you don’t name others doesn’t make it any better. I’m sorry you don’t enjoy someone standing up to you about it. In the meantime, impartiality is a wonderful thing: [Link to old tweet from AS saying, "Brilliant. The core problem with a policy of egalitarianism is that it can easily become monetary & social dumbing-down rather than a genuine effort to redistribute opportunity & wealth. Empirically, aspirational self-improvement is more effective, as my working class dad showed."]

Alastair Stewart: It is not about 'enjoyment'. It matters so much more than that. That, I suspect, is the difference between us. Good night.

Alastair Stewart has been worrying all this election about high-profile broadcast journalists endlessly spouting their opinions, and taking UK broadcast reporting into ever more dangerous territory. Lewis, from a much younger generation, is far more relaxed about journalists (like himself) spouting forth while claiming to be impartial.