In today’s Press Gazette Ms Kuenssberg is at again. Instead of apologising to investigative journalists everywhere on behalf of herself and most of her colleagues she (along with many others) plays the victim card to avoid dealing with the real problem. She was awarded Journalist of the Year at the 2016 British Journalism Awards and therein we have it. Apparently she is the best we have. Well actually she isn’t. But the best are not allowed in to the tent. Why? Because the questions they ask are too much of a risk for those who wield power.
Imagine if those who sought to uncover the dirt across politics and wider society were at the top instead of scrabbling around for funding from independent sources. Imagine if the real muck was outed and we said ‘no more.’ The problem is that we can only imagine. Those like Paul Mason who see the BBC news and other corporate outlets for what they really are, are either pushed or jump. Start asking the wrong questions and the interviews and invitations start to dry up. If a quiet word in the ear is ignored so are you.
Therefore the journos (especially on TV) play by the rules and many of them because of their backgrounds rarely even contemplate asking the really awkward and necessary questions.
Take this quote from the Press Gazette article: ‘On the sexual harassment allegations currently rife in Westminster, Kuenssberg said: “It is hard to tell where it is going to end up. There has been a stopper on the bottle for a long time.”
If you knew that why did you do nothing? Why didn’t you do our perception of your job?
While you whine (in some cases with justification) about abuse why not advocate a new approach in which sucking up to the establishment is taken off the table. Show them for what they really are.
Or is the BBC and other corporate media THE tent and such a request is perceived as treasonous and must be treated as such?
No award will persuade us that you and your colleagues really care about reality. However, substance will and that is what is largely missing.
Douglas James
