Comments
Media tweets show the real agenda
2010-01-29 21:18:59
By Peter Kyle, Progress Online
I was at university on the 11 September 2001, in an open plan office with other postgraduate students. It's not a day I or anyone else will forget. So many people said at the time that ‘the world will never be the same again'. It was an obvious point but how right they were.
The most immediate tangible change to the feel and tone of politics was regarding international affairs. Afghanistan was the most obvious and decisive action but underlying it was a distinctive hardening towards other fascistic and authoritarian regimes, most notably Iraq.
Once it became obvious that the build-up of pressure on Iraq would only end in either a full backdown by Saddam or military action, university protest groups began to spring up and the slogan ‘Don't Attack Iraq' was born.
The faculty hastily arranged an event on campus with lectures so students could engage with the issues and learn some more background in the process. International relations lecturers and politics professors were lined up to give briefings, and I was invited to speak about my experiences in the Balkans where I had been an aid worker during the conflicts there.
I was one of the first speakers and I tried to put the ‘humanitarian' into humanitarian intervention, and spoke about the ambiguities of operating in situations where military and political forces reign so supremely and brutally. All went well until I rather casually added that, "of course we had tremendous public support for the aid effort from back home for our work in Albania and Kosovo, even though I was always aware that the UN had never voted on this and it was a legally dubious military intervention".
All hell broke loose and I was heckled not only by the 300-strong audience but also one of the academics on the panel waiting to speak! After that everything I said, however innocuous, was judged as a political statement on Iraq and the heckling turned into barracking until I called it a day and wandered back to the panel to observe the pinched and angry faces from a safer distance. The next speaker was an international relations lecturer who knew his audience well, he delivered a rabble-rousing pacifist manifesto to much applause. I turned to the politics lecturer to my left and said, ‘I thought we were here to learn?'
I'm in a state of dizzy deja vu as I write. Tony Blair's session at the Iraq Inquiry has just broken for lunch, yet everyone who is not one of the five committee members has already made up their mind. In particular, and most disgracefully, vast swaths of the media seem to have thrown journalistic curiosity out of the window and are acting with less curiosity and academic rigour than those sour-faced undergraduates eight years earlier.
Despite the inexorable march of the information age in which we now live, we still rely heavily on the media to educate us on current affairs and issues of public policy. But something has gone very wrong and you would be hard pressed to find any educative value from any of the reporting of the Iraq Inquiry since the day it was launched.
Ironically I was walking past the QEII Centre, where Blair sits today, listing to the Guardian Politics podcast the week the inquiry was announced. Tom Clark, a leader writer for the Guardian and presenter of the podcast, said words to the effect, ‘This is going to be a whitewash anyway because the commissioners are neocons like Sir Lawrence Freedman who helped Blair write the Chicago speech'. What? WHAT? It was hard to internalise the stupidity of the statement, which managed in one moment to expose the ignorance he had of both the term ‘neocon', the work of Sir Lawrence, and the ease at which journalists speak (and write?) without thinking. To think that at that moment he was one of the great gatekeepers between knowledge and the population filled me with horror.
Yet that early experience was a template for the way forward, with the media constantly editing, spinning and selectively choosing stories that fit their own opinions and narrative, not at all what we, the public, need, which is for journalists to report and educate and allow us the freedom to interpret ourselves.
If you doubt for a second that journalists are being led by opinion rather than fact or evidence, look no further than those on Twitter.
Paul Lewis from the Guardian was ahead of the curve earlier this week by asking, "Who out there is planning to protest against Blair on Friday? I'm writing a story about you". Ten out of ten for innovation: Paul bypasses spinning a story and incites one entirely by promising people a mention in the paper in return for turning up.
Blair had barely been giving evidence for an hour today when the Mirror's Kevin Maguire declared, "Blair: ‘It's not a lie or a deceit or a conspiracy but a decision.' Yes, the wrong decision". Glen Oglaza from Sky News thinks "they need a journalist on the panel. Too academic in my view". If they had Kevin Maguire it would all be over very quickly, no need for questions at all - he knows! Pity the Mirror readers tomorrow, some poor buggers may actually want to make up their own minds.
Today's Tweeting frenzy gives us a unique insight into the way some of our most notable journalists and journalistic institutions approach a story. Take Channel 4. Krishnan Guru-Murthy, who exclaims "oh purleeese!!! Blair explains how he slipped up in the Fern Britten interview!" Nice to know that the most powerful editors of our age - the people who decide live on air who speaks, the questions they answer and how long they get - aren't overly opinionated. It would be reassuring, at the least, to think that Guru-Murthy has the capacity for reflection. Perhaps he was feeling pressured into action by his fellow Channel 4 News presenter, Cathy Newman, who articulated her views with remarkable clarity: "blair using weasel words on fern...annoying sir roderic the rottweiler didn't pursue". Who says Twitter's 140 characters is limiting?
But the prize for journalistic rigour, erudite exposition, and really putting in the brain power on behalf of her readers goes to Cath Elliott, who writes for the Guardian: "Blair really is a smug smarmy bastard". I'm sure we'll all be turning to her writing from now on for considered insight.
What's to be done? Well, the advice given to me by the politics lecturer back in that rowdy lecture hall in 2002 seems more sage today than ever before. "You want to learn? You need to spend less time listening to this lot and more time in the bloody library!"
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Breaking News - GB wins award, Lib Dems face all waysPublish date: 2009-09-23 09:43:49
Why authenticity is the key to comms, and why Merkel will winPublish date: 2009-09-22 08:29:13
Why I love NHS walk-in centresPublish date: 2009-09-21 12:13:03
Here goes with the smoked SalmondPublish date: 2009-09-20 10:40:21
Breaking News - Cameron's vacuousness an impersonator's nightmarePublish date: 2009-09-19 11:06:09
Cameron has an army of spin doctors - aka journalistsPublish date: 2009-09-18 10:07:06
On Scottish independence, Cameron's short-termism, and Jimmy Carter being rightPublish date: 2009-09-17 09:56:56
Is Cameron Alex Salmond's Trojan Horse?Publish date: 2009-09-15 10:13:42
On the TUC, Roy of the Rovers and Anna WintourPublish date: 2009-09-14 11:04:46
Memo to Apple boss Steve JobsPublish date: 2009-09-13 17:36:31
A day in the life of a (crap) City traderPublish date: 2009-09-11 17:52:25
Defend record with pride, attack Tories with gustoPublish date: 2009-09-10 11:06:36
Cameron's Conservatism beyond parodyPublish date: 2009-09-09 10:38:00
On transforned cities, and tales of Princess Di and Laura BushPublish date: 2009-09-08 09:45:54
Labour should put minister up against Griffin on Question TimePublish date: 2009-09-06 12:39:56
School speech the latest source of right-wing frothing at ObamaPublish date: 2009-09-05 08:23:02
More horse's mouth, less Beeb blah pleasePublish date: 2009-09-04 22:49:20
Real respect for sport can be Olympic legacyPublish date: 2009-09-04 09:27:34
First ladies watch out for Japanese bombshellPublish date: 2009-09-03 10:47:19
TV debate - good idea in theory, but ...Publish date: 2009-09-02 15:37:43
'No worries' - the new response to thanksPublish date: 2009-09-01 12:25:19
Tremors of Japanese political earthquake will be felt far and widePublish date: 2009-08-30 15:50:54
Pressure on Ed Miliband can help get a climate change dealPublish date: 2009-08-28 13:39:08
Why Tories and media cannot stomach GCSE success storyPublish date: 2009-08-27 16:03:34
Exposing the absurdity of Chris GraylingPublish date: 2009-08-26 13:20:19
Joy and beauty and a night of magicPublish date: 2009-08-20 10:55:11
Twitter NHS backlash good for ObamaPublish date: 2009-08-14 15:44:49
A lifetime's ambition fulfilledPublish date: 2009-08-08 16:59:02
Breaking the blog-a-day spell as warm up to holidayPublish date: 2009-07-20 17:44:49
No hiding place from Twitter, me on the bike, JP in DCPublish date: 2009-07-17 18:17:09
At last - something Obama cannot do wellPublish date: 2009-07-16 10:05:47
Will MPs take the lead in the debate on euthanasia?Publish date: 2009-07-15 12:30:01
Berlin brothel leads the way to a greener worldPublish date: 2009-07-14 10:57:25
A time for GB to explain the whole picturePublish date: 2009-07-13 12:37:54
All hail Monty, Jimmy and Collie!Publish date: 2009-07-12 20:06:36
First triathlon of the summer for me, education award for FionaPublish date: 2009-07-12 09:43:06
Of Burnley's friendly and Obama's wandering eyePublish date: 2009-07-11 12:38:52
Two great early morning momentsPublish date: 2009-07-10 10:27:07
Cameron had better be sure he's rightPublish date: 2009-07-09 11:06:22
Guardian scoop has big questions for press, cops and CameronPublish date: 2009-07-08 20:40:54
Divisive legend: Lance ArmstrongPublish date: 2009-07-07 10:38:23
First hug a hoodie, now grab a gayPublish date: 2009-07-06 12:57:09
Mail on Scumday's wonderful account of Lansley's kipperdomPublish date: 2009-07-05 13:14:51
Ecclestone undermines his own success with alarming views on HitlerPublish date: 2009-07-04 14:04:04
When the conmen move more quickly than the councilPublish date: 2009-07-03 10:19:52
Andrew Lansley done up like a kipperPublish date: 2009-07-02 10:10:52
A day spent interviewing footballers, then being interviewed by a transvestite comedianPublish date: 2009-07-01 14:47:40
When the power of black eyes fadesPublish date: 2009-06-30 09:24:59
Farewell to Henry HodgePublish date: 2009-06-29 20:41:12
Honouring the power of sport to do goodPublish date: 2009-06-29 14:49:42
Andy Murray is a winner. Is that why some Brits don't like him?Publish date: 2009-06-28 09:19:20
New Parliament will look very different. The younger the betterPublish date: 2009-06-27 17:34:26
Two nice surprises, sad end to dayPublish date: 2009-06-26 09:16:33
Apology from the Spectator on Iraq boosts Henry Hodge fundPublish date: 2009-06-25 19:57:26
Thanks to Mr Harper on mental health, rebuttal of Mr Hague on IraqPublish date: 2009-06-24 23:47:54
Glad to find Eric Cantona in a quiet cinema ...Publish date: 2009-06-24 00:46:23
By Dave's friends shall we know him?Publish date: 2009-06-23 11:30:20
The Speaker has to balance tradition and change - but defend ParliamentPublish date: 2009-06-22 11:58:44
Less a blog than an apology for not having done onePublish date: 2009-06-21 20:07:43
The day Lions skipper Paul O'Connell took my trousers downPublish date: 2009-06-20 11:48:28
On the Iraq inquiry, Independent article wrongPublish date: 2009-06-19 20:28:24
Thank you to three readers, now please get involvedPublish date: 2009-06-19 09:13:35
A tribute to a lovely manPublish date: 2009-06-18 17:19:40
Bad times in Belfast, great day for Burnley, odd statement from Ed BallsPublish date: 2009-06-18 10:04:47
A plea for five-figure cyber-donationsPublish date: 2009-06-17 07:40:42
On two inquiriesPublish date: 2009-06-16 08:57:39
From India to Iran to Labour witPublish date: 2009-06-15 10:13:17
Memories of Princess DianaPublish date: 2009-06-14 09:54:55
A House Divided?Publish date: 2009-06-13 02:53:47
A humbling NHS experience, a media row and a good GB speechPublish date: 2009-06-12 10:48:46
Psychiatrists heading for relegation in 'disease prestige' league tablePublish date: 2009-06-11 10:25:35
The shrinks awaitPublish date: 2009-06-10 09:44:16
As Obama fights for healthcare, let's celebrate the record herePublish date: 2009-06-09 12:52:55
Anger at BNP seats must be turned into activismPublish date: 2009-06-08 14:11:10
Can today be as frenzied as Friday?Publish date: 2009-06-07 10:31:04
Take heart from a win in LambethPublish date: 2009-06-06 18:46:40
JP is right there was no proper campaign but Tories still weakPublish date: 2009-06-05 13:47:20
Do we care more about the NHS or moats?Publish date: 2009-06-04 00:21:23
Guardian of social justice or attention-seeker?Publish date: 2009-06-03 10:19:33
Who says Britain can't deliver the best?Publish date: 2009-06-02 08:08:38
Mainstream has a duty to vote against BNPPublish date: 2009-06-01 11:03:29
Let Diversity inspire a vote against the hate-filled BNPPublish date: 2009-05-31 12:24:20
White House whack at UK media well-timed but sure to be ignoredPublish date: 2009-05-30 13:41:00
Elvis has a plan to make MPs King againPublish date: 2009-05-29 12:09:44
At least there's a campaign on in ItalyPublish date: 2009-05-28 09:04:32
A blow to gay rights and a boost for Cameron's short-termismPublish date: 2009-05-27 11:27:41
It's my blog and I'll be a big kid if I want toPublish date: 2009-05-26 23:25:58
Highs feel better after so many lowsPublish date: 2009-05-26 10:13:12
Only one present countsPublish date: 2009-05-25 11:05:46
Contrast Cheney and BushPublish date: 2009-05-24 12:11:45
Sex (or at least the female form) obsessed BritainPublish date: 2009-05-23 20:49:57
Sport at both ends of the financial spectrumPublish date: 2009-05-23 09:57:23
Stronger together - whether Scotland or expensesPublish date: 2009-05-22 10:22:36
Back to Number 10, familiar faces, familiar argumentsPublish date: 2009-05-21 10:14:34
Speaking up for ParliamentPublish date: 2009-05-20 11:44:17
Peace in the Middle East - yes he canPublish date: 2009-05-19 09:37:35
Breaking news - one frenzy at a timePublish date: 2009-05-18 10:34:30
Getting a good look at Vince CablePublish date: 2009-05-17 09:36:55
How do you solve a problem like Silvio?Publish date: 2009-05-16 09:32:21
It was the internet wot won itPublish date: 2009-05-15 10:04:57
There now follows ... a good whack at CameronPublish date: 2009-05-14 17:21:28
They got their kit off - so you get your cash outPublish date: 2009-05-14 07:41:11
Expenses row must not obscure Tory intentions on minimum wagePublish date: 2009-05-13 16:12:08
We love you Burnley, we do ... what a nightPublish date: 2009-05-13 02:37:17
A tweet cannot express the wonders of TGVPublish date: 2009-05-12 08:48:31
It's Mind week - Get it off your Chest with me and Stephen FryPublish date: 2009-05-11 06:29:15
Hate the Mail, love ObamaPublish date: 2009-05-10 10:04:00
Burnley 1 Reading 0 - a biased reportPublish date: 2009-05-09 21:26:32
MPs expenses - time for party leaders to meet againPublish date: 2009-05-09 09:50:19
Should happiness replace prosperity as national goal?Publish date: 2009-05-08 08:43:23
Musings from a sleepless nightPublish date: 2009-05-07 07:33:49
Darren Fletcher - an injustice that has to be rightedPublish date: 2009-05-06 09:52:29
Maggie's legacy not as great as she thinksPublish date: 2009-05-05 08:33:02
Here's hoping Cardiff is metaphor for CameronPublish date: 2009-05-04 09:38:30
More Mr Benn and Co pleasePublish date: 2009-05-03 10:03:00
Going Fourth with JPPublish date: 2009-05-02 18:25:41
Journalism - print first, think laterPublish date: 2009-05-02 09:10:01
In praise of two poetsPublish date: 2009-05-01 10:26:36
JP hits the road againPublish date: 2009-04-29 18:52:11
My night with Eddie IzzardPublish date: 2009-04-29 10:53:25
Explaining the 50p top tax ratePublish date: 2009-04-28 09:22:53
George Best and Martin McGuinnessPublish date: 2009-04-27 09:02:35
Cameron confused over indepdendence and impartialityPublish date: 2009-04-26 12:20:56
Guide ro Marathon running part 2Publish date: 2009-04-25 11:01:34
Good signals on coal and the OlympicsPublish date: 2009-04-24 10:45:28
Tips for the London MarathonPublish date: 2009-04-23 17:29:27
Missed the Budget, saw why it matteredPublish date: 2009-04-22 23:09:31
Football good, politics bad. AllegedlyPublish date: 2009-04-22 00:00:24
The Great Wall gets greaterPublish date: 2009-04-21 09:55:22
Two sides to police storyPublish date: 2009-04-20 11:39:54
Budgets, Balls, billionaires and Susan BoylePublish date: 2009-04-19 12:31:45
Do muscles have memories?Publish date: 2009-04-18 09:44:44
Bring back standing at footballPublish date: 2009-04-17 14:50:22
When Facebook friends fall outPublish date: 2009-04-16 12:29:16
Guardian sightings and the email and bath plug agendaPublish date: 2009-04-15 11:32:16
The spin is all in the prismPublish date: 2009-04-14 09:22:41
A setback, not a crisisPublish date: 2009-04-13 12:55:19
The real lessons from Damian McBridePublish date: 2009-04-12 10:49:47
Will English always be the dominant language?Publish date: 2009-04-11 10:02:02
On the pipes and what makes a ScotPublish date: 2009-04-10 11:06:20
John Prescott lazy? NO WAYPublish date: 2009-04-09 09:11:31
David Frost is seventyPublish date: 2009-04-08 08:48:38
The Speaker, BBC2, tonight and tomorrow 8pmPublish date: 2009-04-07 14:25:31
Obama, colds and being woken by Korean missilesPublish date: 2009-04-06 11:59:24
When a call matters more than protocolPublish date: 2009-04-05 11:33:42
Green Cities Champions LeaguePublish date: 2009-04-04 10:19:53
Could Cameron have delivered the G20 deal?Publish date: 2009-04-03 10:11:59
Of Benn and BonoPublish date: 2009-04-02 08:21:16
Memo to Sarko - allez vite a LondresPublish date: 2009-04-01 08:46:17
Happy April Fool's DayPublish date: 2009-04-01 01:44:05
Eurostar, Le Monde and a thought for the G20 sherpasPublish date: 2009-03-31 09:17:22
Why Kevin Rudd made an impactPublish date: 2009-03-30 10:24:41
Pre-G20 hype matters less than post-G20 processPublish date: 2009-03-29 13:17:28
The Damned UnitedPublish date: 2009-03-28 10:37:04
A hobby horse, a plug and a bit of sportPublish date: 2009-03-27 10:22:23
Cloughie - he had a lot to be big-headed aboutPublish date: 2009-03-26 09:38:36
A sad sight of the old fearing the youngPublish date: 2009-03-25 17:03:07
Post-modern, post-structural, or bullshit?Publish date: 2009-03-25 08:18:02
Learning the right lessons from ObamaPublish date: 2009-03-24 08:53:15
Lazy Dave needs to keep an eye on lazy KenPublish date: 2009-03-23 11:16:14
Farewell favourite restaurant, hello hometownPublish date: 2009-03-22 08:18:09
Dave, Danny and have the Tories really changed?Publish date: 2009-03-21 08:55:13
Life beyond Dover ...Publish date: 2009-03-20 10:11:21
My friends in The New Statesman - Fergie, Fiona, Tony, Sarah, Kevin, 'Dacre,' and a great GB idea for the G20Publish date: 2009-03-18 10:38:22
Iraq, Iran, GB, Obama and diplomatic chessPublish date: 2009-03-17 10:07:13
The Age of StupidPublish date: 2009-03-16 08:27:13
Is all change good?Publish date: 2009-03-15 10:00:06
The pressure of being a post-modern sex godPublish date: 2009-03-14 10:00:55
Cameron still hasn't sealed the deal with businessPublish date: 2009-03-13 09:21:49
Stand up for social workersPublish date: 2009-03-12 08:31:17
Surely Malcolm Tucker could have told Armando Ianucci ... You can't spin a spinnerPublish date: 2009-03-11 10:58:25
Start of a new approach from Labour?Publish date: 2009-03-10 09:54:12
A peace process still strongPublish date: 2009-03-09 08:21:05
Day of destiny for the real footballer of the yearPublish date: 2009-03-08 09:21:06
Private advice to Peggy Mitchell - the leaked note in fullPublish date: 2009-03-07 08:17:21
Boris, the Tories and the tummy-tickling poodle pressPublish date: 2009-03-06 09:49:37
A day in the life of the self-obsessed TV reporterPublish date: 2009-03-05 07:55:47
GB - good speech, well deliveredPublish date: 2009-03-04 19:31:05
Notes on the environment, a role in EastEndersPublish date: 2009-03-04 10:58:56
She may be my 'wife' but it is time to rebut!Publish date: 2009-03-03 10:52:59
Some speeches matter more than othersPublish date: 2009-03-02 12:04:45
Mental health and the Carling Cup FinalPublish date: 2009-03-01 09:08:17
Inside the chocolate factoryPublish date: 2009-02-28 10:23:59
GB on the G20, JP on Jeremy KylePublish date: 2009-02-27 09:14:36
Charity and the credit crunch, please give generously!Publish date: 2009-02-26 08:55:12
Why oh why are the Tories not home and dry?Publish date: 2009-02-24 09:44:59
Me, Dermot and ten top songsPublish date: 2009-02-23 10:02:19
Names round-upPublish date: 2009-02-22 08:43:39
What's in a name?Publish date: 2009-02-21 09:58:14
Editing the New StatesmanPublish date: 2009-02-20 11:42:36
Salute Peter M’s proper use of the F wordPublish date: 2009-02-19 09:58:58
Labour's communications challenge for the NHSPublish date: 2009-02-18 10:34:39
In praise of KeighleyPublish date: 2009-02-17 14:33:57
A night at the EmiratesPublish date: 2009-02-17 00:06:51
When marriage is testedPublish date: 2009-02-16 13:36:35
Spare me the myths and the whiningPublish date: 2009-02-15 13:29:50
Dave Cameron - is that all there is?Publish date: 2009-02-14 11:11:55
Boris Johnson: F is for ...Publish date: 2009-02-13 07:55:10
The Cameron vacuumPublish date: 2009-02-12 14:48:33
Lincoln, Obama, Blair and the 24 hour media culturePublish date: 2009-02-11 10:28:47
Eighteen interviews later ...Publish date: 2009-02-10 19:24:45
Time to talk about Time to Change on NewsnightPublish date: 2009-02-09 22:47:49
So that’s what they mean by online community?Publish date: 2009-02-08 12:12:51
First blogPublish date: 2009-02-05 15:23:57
Selina
2010-01-30 20:38:47I didn't agree with the Iraq war (took part in the Stop the War march etc), but I don't think Tony Blair is a liar or a murderer, he made a wrong judgment but he did it in good faith. I hope his appearance at the Inquiry has taken some of the sting out of this issue so that Labour can move on to focus on the recovering economy and making sure Cameron etc don't ruin everything.
Trickie Dickie
2010-01-30 16:21:41If you listen to the media reports of Friday on the Blair trial! you would be hard pressed to believe he actually won an election with a huge majority after the war.
It is quite plain to see that the war was legal and anyone who followed the AG Lord Goldsmith's reasoned account of why he reached his opinion will find it quite easy to understand.
Ms Wilmshurst was right to resign ...she should also give back her salary for the year as she was pathetic. Yes Jack Straw did know more about that part of the international law he was part of the team who negotiated 1441 and knows exactly the tactics and reason for the very specific wording of the resolution. As for her boss at least he had the sense to hang on for his knighthood before exposing his lack of ability.
I cant be the only one to detect a bit of Whithall mandarin influence behind the demonisation of TB (the most successful and best PM this country has ever had)
Sir Roger Lyns seems to be off on a one man crusade... I cant count the number of traps he set the AG and TB that they were too smart to fall for yet he still persisted.
As for the Baroness...well I think she is Clare Short in disguise.
The other learned men are more balanced and the chairman is just like my granddad.....dodery, lovely but with a closed mind set half a century out of date.
This report wont be a whitewash it will be a media appeasment. Full of the right words but lacking the right analysis.
Time will tell and history will record the mood of the nation but its the future that will hold the real answer. When the next terrorist attack hits the UK killing as many as were killed in 9/11 then perhaps the moral majority will kick the vocal minority of pacifists and bleeding heart liberals into touch.
Oh amd lastly the AQ/SH question.....No Saddam was not involved in 9/11 ...but noone doubts for one second that if he had known it was going to happen he would not have stopped it.
God help us if we ever need to defend ourselves under (call me Dave) Cameron.
patsymerc@msn.com
2010-01-30 16:17:25Well done to Mr. Blair yesterday at the enquiry. l felt very nervous at the beginning of the meeting, but Mr Blair's integrity shone through.l just hope in time the families that have lost loved ones in the Iraq war, will
eventually see Mr. Blair did the right thing.
PS. and DAVE in nothing like Mr.Blair so media people stop
saying that he his.......
Quietzapple
2010-01-30 15:56:18Most of the coverage and anti-Blair nonsense is some sort of post reality wish fulfillment.
They want the deaths to be a powerful, white Labour politician's fault, so they are.
Any survivors of a Saddam/islamo-fascist chemical attack would have apologised to their conquerers.
Jane
2010-01-30 14:59:03What a superb article and it reflects very much what I feel about the media coverage of the Chilcott Enquiry. I once read the Guardian but stopped purchasing the paper as the standards declined. At one time, the Guardian would have been analysing the media's whipping up of unwarranted, unjustified attacks on our former PM. Now they are at the forefront of the attacks with not only the comments you have listened to but one of their columnists calling for a citizens' arrest of Tony Blair. Absolutely shocking. Our journalistic standards are in rapid decline and I fear for our future when some of the stalwarts of the British Press retire. The majority of journalists are the worst I have experienced. arrogant, gossipy, biased.....etc...They totally underestimate the public and are the most unprincipled bunch we have had for generations.
There appears to be a widening disconnection between the press and public. I no longer purchase national newspapers. I rarely watch television news and use internet sources and very importantly blogs - many of our blog writers are much better commentators. For international affairs, I read the New York Times and listen to the World Service. I also read newspapers from around the world to ensure that I am able to form my own views. Political journalists are not my favourite people - they appear to defer to power or keeping in with the government of the day. I watch the parliament channel, read Hansard, use the Parliament website, House of Commons Library, and research departments all of which are online. I also purchase relevant books as living in a rural county, my library is not well stocked.
However, I am retired and do have the time to undertake all of this independent reading. I often think I am better informed than the so called expert journalists. This does not detract from the serious point of what we look to the media for. Not everyone has the time to go to libraries and look to the media for information and current affairs. We do not want facts twisted to support the political views of the journalist or newspaper.
We must come up with a solution. The media has been responsible for the decline in participatory democracy. Here are some suggestions......
1. Get rid of the PCC. Absolute rubbish body. No profession (although I do not consider it a profession as it has no moral code or values that I recognise) should police itself.
2. We need to have legislation to ensure that journalists are held to account for their writings. Journalists who transmit information which is not based on facts are immoral and do immeasurable harm to many innocent people.
3. Press briefings from the PM's officer should be televised. We need to ensure that political journalists are reporting facts.
I shall now ensure that I read Progess publications - thank you!
Nicky
2010-01-30 11:19:37The media coverage of Blair's evidence has been absolutely appalling. At least some of us are able to see beyond the Blair-hate that we're being spoon-fed by an agenda-driven media.
Blair did the right thing.
Pat McDonnell
2010-01-30 02:18:18I just want to say from Dubin, Ireland, we've spent the last ten years living under a peace which was brokered under a Tony Blair government.
I remember when that agreement came..I hope others do too.
The first British government to hold steady and now we have peace.
The idea that Tony Blair is a 'warmonger' or went to war on a whim is so stupid..
Paula Merrill
2010-01-30 00:36:25AC I agreed with your half way blog and I agree with this one too. I am beginning to wonder why we are even having this inquiry. As Tony Blair said, at the end of the day he was PM and he had to make a judgement. People can agree or disagree but that is what it was. There have already been inquiries which have established the charges of lying are unfounded. There have been others that have establishged the intelligence was not distorted. But the media have decided en masse to present every old fact as new and try to relive old battles. The inquiry can ask all the questions they want but they never stood for election, they never became PM, they never had to make the decision Blair did. And the whole thing has become a circus which does Britain no good
Bar Bar of Oz
2010-01-30 00:35:37I believe Tony Blair's great communication achievement yesterday was in enabling the panel members to walk in his shoes. This transference of perspective came quite early on, when he said:
"As I sometimes say to people, this isn't about a lie
or a conspiracy or a deceit or a deception, it is
a decision, and the decision I had to take was, given
Saddam's history, given his use of chemical weapons,
given the over 1 million people whose deaths he had
causes, given ten years of breaking UN Resolutions,
could we take the risk of this man reconstituting his
weapons programmes, or is that a risk it would be
irresponsible to take? I formed the judgment, and it is a judgment in the end. It is a decision. I had to take the decision, and I believed, and in the end so did the Cabinet..."
From that moment on each of the panel members were viewing the issues as if s/he were the Prime Minister crrying the weight of the responsibility of responding to the post 9/11 environment.
There were times after this that I felt Lyne, Freedman and Chilcot were actually embarrassed and bashful by the questions they were having to ask him.
Tour de force.
alex sewell
2010-01-30 00:22:51I just watched Question Time on iPlayer and went to post a comment on the 'Have Your Say' page but it had closed. Luckily someone had posted precisely what I wanted to say and what I have been wanting to say for a long time. Sorry to use AC's blog for this but I need to express my frustration with Dimbleby & the BBC somewhere. I cannot believe how bias David Dimbleby is towards the Conservative party. What a complete let down. It makes me completely sick to see David Dimbleby sucking up to anyone in the Tory camp. What a disgrace. Get someone with a balanced view to host Question Time.
“I'm appalled at the lack of balance on the panel again, three Tories (plus Dimbleby), one Labour and one Liberal Democrat. We are quite close to an election, so what's happened to the BBC's requirement to be impartial? Who selects these 'loaded' panels? If we must have journalists, can't we have some from serious newspapers, rather than those who try to emulate "Glenda Slagg"?
Fred Pitt, Cambridge, United Kingdom”
Hans Milden
2010-01-30 00:15:59What I liked about Blair's evidence was that he made substantial points in a serious way. What hate about the media is that they make trivial points in a trivial way whilst they pose as being substantial. Well done too Mr Campbell for giving your blog on this issue to someone else
Robert Jackson
2010-01-30 00:13:43There was a gap of two or three minutes in the BBC News Channel coverage just after Tony Blair finished his evidence and before the angry relatives and the hecklers emerged from the enquiry where two case hardened BBC presenters - Emily Maitlis and rottweiler Laura Kuenssberg - were on camera visibly astonished by TB's performance.
Shortly after this the BBC settled on its line for the evening and the presentational tone changed markedly.
No matter - those first two reactions will stay with me as being the most revealing.
Rich Stakounis
2010-01-29 23:15:46How refreshing! I have just spent the better part of an hour trying to find out what was actually said during the inquiry today. Still no luck. All I can find is opinion after opinion, after opinion. I'm pretty sure I disagree with 99% of the interpretation of Mr Blair's evidence, so I would very much welcome the opportunity to judge for myself. One more thing though; where were all these people during the 'war'? Why were they so quiet about the whole thing then? Hindsight is a truly wonderful thing.
Mike
2010-01-29 23:14:35Fewer people died this way.
A strand of argument that I am surprised that Blair has not make more of: the numbers that were dying as a result of the way Saddam responded to sanctions. TB mentioned that the child mortality rate was appalling under Saddam; this is true, and is generally the base for calculations that suggest that sanctions ultimately resulted in the deaths of around 400,000 children. Comparing this with all the independent estimates of civilian casualties from the conflict since 2003, it is the case that fewer people have now died than would have done if the status quo had continued.
Whichever choice you make, people will die. There is no moral credit to those who prefer to allow more to die as someone else's responsibility, than to choose a path where fewer ultimately die but the responsibility they bear is higher.
Decision-makers face the world from a morally imperfect starting point. To understand their choices, we must understand the alternatives they had on offer as fully as possible. And those who condemn intervention should examine the moral ramifications of doing nothing to treat a problem which is simply not going to go away.
Nils Boray
2010-01-29 21:32:26Excellent blog. I agree wholeheartedly.
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