THE UK MEDIA LANDSCAPE

Author : Rich Peppiat

Journalism is an activity that is demonstrably valuable to society. It tells us what is new, important and interesting in public life, it holds authority to account, it promotes informed debate, it entertains and enlightens.

But

A great deal of what passes as news in both print and other media in the UK is, far from being new, merely a regurgitation of other news sources. It has long been a practice among newspapers to cannibalise stories from each other (usually without attribution) when the first print editions arrive on news desks around midnight. Now, in the digital era, individual news organisations know their ownership of a particular story will last only until the moment it is published online. It could be argued that this ‘plagiarism’ is a form of dishonesty/corruption or in fact just a reality of today’s relentless news cycle, but what is undeniable is that the level of checks applied to scrutinise the veracity of cannibalised stories is extremely low; a story having appeared in one publication is in and of itself a verification of its truth and accuracy. The role of many journalists is changing from uncovering something new for their audience, to re-packaging second-hand content. One effect of this regurgitation process is that what is considered ‘newsworthy’ becomes narrow and insular, a series of pre-defined narratives and well-worn stereotypes that journalists are expected to follow, rather than challenge. The increase in the instances of cannibalisation comes from commercial pressures not to be ‘left behind’ on any story, out of fear of readers taking their custom to another publication, which, particularly among mass market papers, seems to carry more currency than supplying readers with original, carefully conceived journalism.

A study by the Media Standards Trust found that more than half of news contains some form of public relations material. Far from finding new, fresh information, journalists are increasingly turning to pre-filtered, agenda-rich sources to fill their pages. There are now more public relations professionals in the UK than journalists, and it is a trend that is getting worse, not better. Better pay and opportunities in the public relations industry is seeing a talent drift away from journalism as a profession, which has serious implications for public accountability, but it also forges ever-closer links between the two industries.

Accepting gifts in return for coverage is not something that is hidden away; it is openly discussed. In fact it’s almost a competition for who can get the best freebies. The further up the newsroom ladder you are, the better freebies you can usually get.

SecondlyBritain’s national press is proprietorially owned – 70 percent or so by politically conservative billionaires. Whilst journalism and journalists like to consider their profession anti-establishment, it is difficult to level this with the fact that most newspaper owners are very much part of the establishment. They have a vested interest in the status quo and in promoting – or at the very least treating uncritically – political policies which suit their business interests, and free market capitalism in general . Whilst much newsprint is dedicated to the money defrauded from the taxpayer by ‘benefit scroungers’, far less column inches can be found on the topic of tax avoidance by wealthy individuals and corporations. Nearly every newspaper proprietor has been accused of such practices, and it is hard not to conclude that this influences this imbalance. It feels almost trite to say, but there is an innate conflict of interest between being a wealthy, powerful newspaper proprietor when the role of your newspaper(s) is to hold the powerful to account. The ‘revolving door’ between the upper echelons of politics, business and journalism does not suggest the holding of power to account but the subtle corruption of mutual kinship, of favours traded and bought amongst a social elite. These men (because they’re always men) own newspapers as a business – the business of making money and the business of increasing their power, and when the public interest implicit in the practice of journalism comes in to conflict with the self-interest of capitalism it is the latter which today too often prevails.

The link between advertising spend in print by large corporations and positive coverage of said corporations is increasingly pervasive and a blatant commercial corruption of journalistic integrity. There is also the rise of the advertorial in print media. Advertisers, realising that their adverts are more effective if not recognised as adverts by consumers, have, with collusion of the commercial departments of newspapers, been allowed to place content which appears to all but the closest observer to be part of a newspaper’s own editorial content. In some instances it is even a one of the newspaper’s own journalists tasked with penning the advertorial. It is a practice that demands a higher ad rate than a standard advert, and so is an attractive commercial proposition. The practice of special sponsored supplements is also on the rise.

Time and resources are two things today’s journalist is often deprived of. Instead, the pressure to create an eye-catching story and put a sensationalist spin on the facts at hand takes precedence. The traditional divide between news and comment is a thing of the past. The journalist’s job is to make the story adhere to the newspaper’s view on an issue. When ‘journalism as entertainment’ becomes a dominant ethos, as it has across much of British journalism, the driving force is to provoke an emotion, and emotions provoked are, in this case, overwhelmingly negative: fear, anger and hatred. This is intrinsically linked to commercial pressures – in an age saturated by ‘new media’ in the form of video games, thousands of TV channels and fast internet connections, people have a huge amount of choice. Beside their rivals newspapers tend to look rather dull and dated. Bigger headlines, more scandal, more intimate revelations, are all tools of trying to compete with their naturally flashier media cousins. With readers leaving in droves, editors are desperate to pander to their perceived prejudices as a means of keeping their custom. It is a desperate downward spiral. The pervasive influence of celebrity culture in society has been exploited for commercial ends within the news industry, as a form of cheap, easily accessible filler for their pages.

Sadly, for young reporters entering the industry, showbiz journalism is one of the few viable options available to them – hardly an arena to hone serious journalistic skills. It comes down to cold economic calculations: it is cheaper to have a reporter spend the day chained to their desk, churning out copy to write around celebrity pictures, than it is to allow them to investigate a genuine public interest story, which may take days or weeks and eventually amount to nothing. Though it is apparent from discussions with working journalists that increasing power on the commercial side of newsrooms is a troubling trend, it is difficult for reporters to push back against what many regard as a corruption of the journalistic profession. Those reporters lucky enough to be in fulltime roles are desperate to hang onto them, which naturally discourages dissent. Many reporters who are receiving work are doing so on short-term, casual contracts that can be terminated at any time, again making speaking up an unwise career move. Compounded by the declining power of journalism unions, the commercial operation of the news business is able to dominate editorial content.

Finally, the pressure news organisations are under to survive, makes them increasingly susceptible to the lure of corporate money. But a press that is financially sustainable and not a mouthpiece for big business must still be the goal of efforts for a better journalistic eco-system. A starting point for fighting back against the intrusion of corporate influence within journalism is an ownership cap, with the 15 percent limit suggested by the Media Reform Coalition seeming a broadly sensible level. There seems only a tepid appetite among too-limited a selection of MPs to see this pass into law in the near future, but it is, in the medium term, an achievable aim.