The BBC apologises for Uganda debate question, while Roy Greenslade agonises over the morality of the Jan Moir Twitter storm and the Sunday Times' business editor leaves to join PR agency, FD.
What do these three stories all have in common?
All, I'd argue, demonstrate the crisis of confidence in journalism right now,
No sensible person would agree with the stark outrageousness of the BBC's question, but you can sympathise with its dilemma, caught in the middle between critics who've consistently labelled it too PC and others who think it's now tried too hard to redress a perceived liberal bias. You wouldn't blame its journalists for feeling utterly paralysed as the corporation attempts to second-guess the responses of its increasingly vocal global audience.
Not surprisingly the Uganda question caused another Twitter storm, although it didn't quite reach the scale of the Jan Moir affair. Roy Greenslade's article on the reaction to Moir's column sees him express concerns that the supposed strengths of social media, such as its immediacy and its demolition of traditional hierarchies, are actually weaknesses. In other words, he's joined the backlash against the backlash, reflecting the bafflement and uncertainty amongst traditional media about how to harness its readers' online energies.
John Waples' departure from journalism to “the dark side” means he joins many other high profile escapees from an industry that's taken a real battering this year. It's hardly a vote of confidence in the profession.
How the hell is Greenslade still going? He's written about one interesting thing ever.
Posted by: Anton Vowl | Dec 18, 2009 at 12:55