on media


Stories are critical in more ways than one


Three big issues show journalism matters, says Raymond Snoddy H


ow well – or otherwise – have journalists dealt with the unprecedented triple crises still being faced


by the UK? The three: Brexit, Covid-19 and Boris Johnson’s breaches of lockdown rules posed different challenges to newspaper journalists and broadcasters alike, although Johnson was centrally involved in misleading the public in all three. Many journalists have been heavily


criticised for not fully explaining the reality of what leaving the EU would mean for the British economy, society and public. Some had little choice but to toe the line set by their right-wing proprietors, many mainly interested in avoiding EU attempts to crack down on international tax havens. The BBC has rightly been criticised for its policy of ‘false equivalence’ during the referendum campaign and its reluctance in the years afterwards to attribute the UK’s troubles to Brexit. In the latest example the BBC was slow to cover properly miles of lorry queues outside Dover for fear of having to utter the B word. The same right-wing newspapers


criticised for their uncritical, cheerleading coverage of Brexit have also not covered themselves in glory in their coverage of Covid. Few opportunities were missed to


belittle the ‘doom-mongering’ scientists and many failed to get their minds round basic scientific concepts such as exponential spread, Long Covid, or the fact that the more Covid cases in a community the greater the chance of new dangerous mutations. Instead they have campaigned religiously for re-opening the economy,


usually too soon for the safety of their readers. A recent example by The Sun’s Trevor Kavanagh is as good as any. “War is Over – Now will the shroud-waving mask-loving doomsters PLEASE let us get on with our lives?” On that day there were 107,364 new cases and 330 deaths within 28 days – an obvious underestimate – taking the total to 153,302, the highest in Europe. Overall, definitely a case of could do


better, much better. But when it came to the parties of


Boris Johnson a wide variety of media, even some Johnson supporting titles, finally got round to doing their duty. Johnson has routinely lied and


misled the House of Commons across the entirety of his Premiership. The lies, falsehoods, inaccuracies, were all lovingly catalogued by the courageous former Daily Telegraph columnist Peter Oborne. Yet absolutely nothing happened and looked as if it never would. Many voters still liked Johnson the clown, tolerated his many “indiscretions” and thought he was doing his best. The exposure of the lockdown parties has changed everything. The curtailed Sue Gray report still detailed no less than 16 parties in and around Downing Street and revealed that 12 of them are being investigated by the Metropolitan Police – at least four involving Johnson personally. The latest to become public thanks to the Daily Telegraph, was the party in Johnson’s flat where Abba’s The Winner Takes it All was played. Many have marvelled that of all the


highly significant, weighty falsehoods that Johnson had perpetrated on the British public it was the exposure of parties that did it. For those inside Downing Street it


was bring your own booze. The rest of the country couldn’t see dying husbands, wives or partners or properly mourn their loss. There can be no more treacherous


betrayal of the British people during a pandemic, or one that is more politically toxic, and it has seen Labour sweep into an 11-point lead over the Conservatives. And it is all down to journalism. There are two classes of scoops. One


involves getting a story just before it happens or is officially announced. Real scoops uncover scandals that those responsible hoped would stay secret forever. The very best of such scoops can sometimes bring down a President or a Prime Minister. Boris Johnson and party time looks


like one of those occasions and two journalists Pippa Crerar of the Daily Mirror and Paul Brand of ITV led the way in a careful, determined manner. They did indeed break the story. The


20 | theJournalist


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Guardian added telling pictures and the Telegraph, the paper, which did more than any to create the persona of Johnson, played its part in his impending downfall.


The BBC did better this time by


When it came to the damage to Boris Johnson, a wide variety of media outlets finally got round to doing their duty


relentlessly reporting the revelations of others, only then to be accused of bias. Johnson appears to have survived for


now while the police investigation continues. The maximum danger will come if a sitting Prime Minister is found guilty and fined, or failing that the Conservatives suffer a pummelling in the May local elections. The game is still afoot but we can


already say with certainty that the exposure of Johnson and his parties prove that stories matter; journalism matters and can even help to pull a democracy back from the brink.


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