Is it over yet? Can we mere mortals live a hacking-free existence in our lifetime? Well, judging by the endless coverage, it doesn’t seem so.
The never-ending story is not on its last page, sadly. Yesterday the Murdochs appeared before the select committee in a gruelling three-hour Q&A where Rupert Murdoch was served humble pie and a protester was shown the door with a helping hand from wife Wendi.
With the two media heavyweights kept busy, namely cleaning off unfunny comic John Marbles’ attempt at humour, former Labour leader Neil Kinnock took to the airwaves to call for the presses to come under political control.
Talking to John Humphrys on BBC Radio 4 yesterday, he called for an ‘assessment of the system of ownership and a system of regulation’ of newspapers to make sure ‘there isn’t a political predetermination’ - i.e. a balanced press.
What ever could he mean? Do you suppose he’s referring to the media tycoon(s) currently with a Conservative-leaning British newspaper portfolio?
Kinnock, whose face famously appeared in a light bulb on the front of Murdoch’s The Sun, seems to not be too pleased about Labour’s performance in the paper-backed stakes – Labour 2, Conservatives 6 (two of which are owned by Murdoch).
Could you imagine The Sun under the control of Kinnock and Co? It would be like a Westminster White Paper: spinned guff on fixing potholes would replace the saucy MP sex scandals, page three would be a pair of rather uninspiring politicians baring their bills in full and Harriet from Peckham would do News in Policy Briefs. Sounds inspiring! MPs can’t even get their own house in order, so what makes them think they should take charge of the fourth estate?
I have had the displeasure of reading a paper hot off the local government presses – Tower Hamlets’ East End Life. The weekly vanity freebie on behalf of the Labour Party costs residents £1.5 million a year. This Pravda-like mag is full of info on the success of the local party’s projects such as creating new Tescos on every street corner, but corruption and council waste? Not a single column inch.
I may not enjoy the politics of the Guardian or the Daily Mirror but I’d fight tooth and nail to allow them to be printed without political control, and being partisan is no bad thing whatever Kinnock and Miliband are saying. Both left and right wing papers have a role in holding MPs to account. Where would we be if editors didn’t have the choice of taking a political side? If newspapers were controlled by politicians, the likes of Archer, Aitken and the expenses posse would’ve gotten away with it.
We have the BBC for (alleged) impartiality; newspapers are a commodity that readers CHOOSE to buy. If people don’t like having the Daily Mail’s editorial line shoved down their throat then they can express their choice at the newsagent’s.
Frankly politicians are getting a bit too big for their boots when it comes to the media. While they were right to investigate the deplorable hacking of the past, it does not give Ed Miliband or Neil Kinnock the right to call for the break up of Murdoch’s newspapers. What business is it of theirs aside from ownership rules, which if I’m not mistaken haven’t prevented Rupert from building his empire.
As Harriet Harman herself admitted, ‘neither the Labour Government nor the previous Tory Government took the action that was needed to be taken’. Why was that then, Harriet? Too much of a good thing? Labour sure weren’t complaining when they had the Murdochs eating out of their hands… but now the shoe is on the other foot, they seem to be suddenly not so keen.
The freedom of the press must be preserved at all costs – and that includes the Murdoch press. Under political control, the power of press pressure would diminish. They’re not perfect, but newspapers do give people a voice. MPs may represent communities but only the press can expose an injustice, highlighting it in a way an MP never could. An MP might get a chance to ask a question at PMQs but even if they did, how long would it take for action to finally be done? Papers live in the moment. They get solutions fast. Westminster, sadly, is a timely affair.
As we all have the freedom of expression, we must ensure that our newspapers too have the same right. Newspapers play an important part in politics and society. Without their own editorial line, papers would serve to be mere puppets and tools for politicians to moonlight their policy ideas and avoid criticism.
But more importantly, the public should have a choice on what they want to read. Pravda? I’d take the Mirror any day.
P.S. Will the last person left in the British press please turn the light off?
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