... That 'they' cannot, or will not, see that they have moved beyond caring that it is, and needs to be shared without spin or agenda or self-interest, is a tragedy.
The media is a "feral beast"
THE SPEECH
Having been away for a few days on a quite important 'mission' regarding the future of the planet, it seems extraordinary to have come back to this, and feel moved to comment on it before all else.
This is what I was moved to contribute:
As acknowledged, how 'we' reach each other in all things and, more importantly set about persuading each other to think and act perhaps differently or more quickly, is in this modern age pretty much down to 'use' of and consequent practices 'of' and 'by' the media.
I don't often agree with Tony Blair. But in much he had (and at long last felt compelled, allowed, freed from restriction, etc) to say (a tad late), I'm afraid there was great truth.
Sadly, and has already been pointed out and pounced on unmercilessly, too much in his past, both in deed and and word, makes him a blooming poor example of rectitude (on any count) to pass such comment. Good message. Not so great messenger.
But if there was some small glimmer, what has happened as a consequence is as poetic a QED as he, or anyone who thinks our media is broken could hope for. And, along with it all (not just politicians') relationships that could so productively be had, especially for the honest and professional communication and exchange of information, the betterment of 'our' understanding of issues through skilled and objective analysis, and a commitment to the value of the story over tomorrow's next set of ratings.
Whilst by no means the only one, the Newsnight piece in reaction was about typical.
Though not the usual twofer, we this time were treated to a threesome, presided over by Mr. Paxman as stirrer. If this was the best debate the BBC and Fleet Street's finest could inspire, there could have been no more eloquent live example of Mr. Blair's point.
All came from (and doubtless were selected for that very reason) extreme entrenched personal viewpoints. And they well proved that, as a pack, for petty personal point scoring they would cherry pick and boost the most extreme at the expense of considered thought and well-crafted sharing of relevant information and convincing argument.
Having just come from a conference/debate on the fate of our future where it seemed pretty obvious that top of most of the communications industry protagonists' minds - and certainly more than answering the main posed questions of what 'we'.... 'do'.... to change a patently woeful situation - pursuing personal or corporate gain through the profitable world of hype and spin and driving inflammatory talk was waaaaay more important than actually answering anything.
I was there, and the little I have seen written about it so far has been solely on who knocked spots off another. While interesting, and worthy of being in the mix, I really think those who were not there will be interested in, and deserve a lot more.
It's a shame there is a level of trust in the public's intelligence, a commitment to what society needs and deserves, and a pride in one's profession and craft to deliver that with passion, commitment, courage and honesty, which is so sadly lacking across all our major media today.
And trying to distract us by proving a politician's point by focusing solely on him rather than what he was saying is simply one thing, and one thing alone:
Sad.
And now, I must get back to my report on the Guardian Climate Change Conference I just attended.
Cif - Blair's message for the media
Guardian - Blair keen to lead way on relations with media
Indy - Blair's attack provokes anger among newspaper editors and broadcasters - No, really? And by slecting the blogs that agree with them, they prove his point really.
Indy - Simon Kelner: Would you be saying this, Mr Blair, if we supported your war in Iraq? - I take the point, but again this is using the messenger to avoid the message.
Guardian -
Spin and scandal: how New Labour made the news
Right sermon, wrong preacher - I guess this is one editor not provoked to anger, as covered by the Indy (above)
Blair still doesn't get it & Fix yourself first - there again...
The feral beast is out
The front pages he hated - Fun, but , er... so? I rather liked the ad for the paper below: 'Home entertainment made simple'. Apt.
I guess, for balance, I should post those from the Telegraph and Times, but if the mainstream press can't be fussed about facst or balance, why the heck should I?
BBC - "Feral" media - my thoughts - Bearing in mind Mr. Blair had a lot more to say than the 'feral media' bit, the lead in this case says a lot in its own right
Indy - Media standards: It's all a matter of opinion
Indy - Steven Glover on The Press - get the impression they are having trouble letting this go?
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