Today I went to a lecture by Michael White, Assistant Poltical Editor for the Guardian. Michael has been with the Guardian for over 30 years and before that worked in local news.
He talked a lot about how the media had changed since he joined a newspaper and I wanted to highlight a couple of the things he said as they relate to the increasing influence political communication has in shaping the news agenda.
The first thing Michael said was that the media is now driven by market forces and by technological developments (new media).
1) The media is a hugely competitive market in which newspapers, broadcasters, news agencies and radio stations are competing to break stories first and provide the best and most sensational content.
2) Technological developments have transformed the speed and methods of reporting news. Rather than having 3 news bulletin a day people can keep up with what is happening 24/7 through the internet and television. Furthermore it is no longer acceptable to just do newspapers, or just do broadcasting. To compete in the news market you have to provide content through a variety of mediums.
What this has done is put pressure on reporters to deliver content that is better than their competitors’, in the quickest possible time.
In line with the increasing capability and competition within the media, spin doctors have emerged to try and influence political news. It is now a battle between the media and the spin merchants to control the news agenda.
Michael made this point by saying, you have the spin doctor on one phone, and you have the news desk on the other phone both putting on pressure. It means you don’t get the privilege and space to develop your own ideas as much anymore.
What this does is leave journalists continually questioning themselves,
Am I wrong or are they wrong?
Am I seeing what I think I am seeing, or am I seeing what I am told I am seeing?
What was also interesting was that he said, when referring to Westminster politics: “The chamber is empty but Abingdale Green is full.” (The green outside Parliament where camera crews do interviews etc). It seems that just as much political work is done outside of parliament as it is done inside these days.
Multi-media journalism seems like a cut throat world when thought of like this - Keep on top of the technology and be hungry for the competition is the advice I took!
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