The media’s alleged role in the current economic meltdown is a common comment on phone-ins, especially.
The media have been, and are still, ‘talking things down’. The allegation goes something like this: sensational headlines have spread fear and panic, causing confidence to crash, which in turn has lain waste to share and asset values, which causes a chain reaction hitting confidence again.
Talkdown causes meltdown. It’s a refrain I hear a lot whenever men in suits gather. I can empathise a wee bit. Running a business requires a perpetual pragmatic ’let’s fix this’ approach which simply cannot afford to be eclipsed by pessimism.
But the ‘media to blame’ view implies an expectation that the media need to ‘play ball’ – to get with the plan, to be part of the common aspiration to make a shekel or two.
Clearly people should have their opinions. But just maybe they fail to understand the role of the media.
The media report the news. The plummet in economic fortunes worldwide has not been caused by a few bad headlines. The fundamentals were rotten.
Ironically, default critics of the media fail to see that it is the media which has provided the very insight into this last year’s mayhem that we need if we are get out of this mess.
The ‘pointy heads’, as Kelvin Mackenzie called them on Question Time last Thursday, have been so clever-clever (and let’s add an extra ‘clever’, shall we?) that anyone not at that same high altitude – including the leaders of the world and their brightest advisers – could understand the trickery they were up to until the whole house of cards collapsed.
So ,we turn to the communicators to do their level best. Never have so many hung on the every word of Robert Peston and his ilk as they communicate in plain English the origin and meaning of highly complex economic events.
For me, Peston, along with commentators like Will Hutton in the Guardian/Observer and Anatole Kalestsky in The Times, are essential analysis and commentary. Far from blaming the media, intelligent people respect and are informed by it.
And we’ll need the media to continue to be a critical observer of governments and institutions as we prepare for big changes to come in everything from financial regulation to energy conservation.
So I’ll take Peston and his irritable vowel syndrome over soothing words and a fixed-smile. We need clear and disinterested analysis and reporting more than ever.
There’s plenty about the media we can be critical about - but the media at its best (including the best of the bloggers) is our true critical friend.
Some of the fundamentals are not good. But some of them ain’t so bad. The interest rate cuts mean many people’s housing costs have come down dramatically. And spending power has actually increased. And many prices – even on imports are staying steady or even coming down. There has been a media feeding frenzy that has IMO been completely out of proportion.
Just as I remember when snow drifts were epic back in the day – and I still got to school, on foot, two miles, by myself, aged 8 or whatever. So much milk to be drunk.
I remember those Tory recessions only too well. And Maggie snatching the milk of human kindness from the system.
The media as a whole are not economics-savvy. Few journalists seem to understand statistics. And whoever is behind the graphics backdrops at the BBC and the other networks is showing a humungous contraction and fall when the 2, 3, 4% would scarcely be noticeable if plotted correctly.
Self-fulfilling prophesies do sometimes come true of course. And sometimes if we shout “Wolf!” enough we’ll be right one day. Just now however many in the media are confused, inaccurate, imprecise and plain wrong.
Reply
Andrew Spinoza Reply:
February 20th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
‘Many’ maybe – but not the ones I have mentioned. I’m just against default knocking of ‘the media’ that I hear every day of the week.
Reply
Andy, the essential point is that readers and viewers have to be able to spot the difference between useful, intelligent, informed media….and the other sort that aims to sell through scary headlines, political bias and downright inaccuracy. I agree with what you say on the intelligent journalists, but the prevalence of type two means that ultimately organisations increasingly have to look to producing their own communications to reach key auiences.
Well done on the blog…are you going for the numberplate next?There might be a good deal going on 5P1n 0Z4 !
Reply
Hmmm, personalised number plates…’Spin 1′ would not exactly help for the reputation of public relations as a professional discipline!
Reply
This is the first time I commented here and I should say you share genuine, and quality information for bloggers! Great job.
p.s. You have a very good template . Where have you got it from?
Reply
Andrew Spinoza Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Hi thanks for that – keep reading!
The template is WordPress and it has been reccommended and indeed put together by Push On http://www.pushon.co.uk – a great team of clever people.
Reply