A journalist of fifty years standing offers a personal and independent assessment of the often troubled relationship between public figures and the British news media.
My aim is to try to monitor events and issues affecting the ethics of journalism and the latest developments in the rapidly-changing world of press, television, radio and the Internet.
Expect too an insight into the black arts of media manipulation. So spin-doctors, Beware!
A journalist of fifty years standing offers a personal and independent assessment of the often troubled relationship between public figures and the British news media.

When Theresa May finally acknowledged in the House of Commons that the UK would be worse off economically after Brexit, she posed questions the British news media should attempt to answer:
“How many jobs are being threatened by Brexit?”
“And, more importantly, how many have been lost already?”
No answers are likely from Brexit-supporting newspapers that command 70 per cent of national sales and readership.
Not only will there be no attempt to explain or justify the loss of output and employment, but the Brextremist press will carry on their cover-up, continuing to totally ignore news stories that point to halted investments, declining job opportunities and a damaging exodus of talented staff.
Unrelenting pro-Brexit propaganda – exaggerating positive forecasts but ignoring harsh [ ... ]
European JournalismRead more...
“Was Enoch Powell right?” ... “Should Wolverhampton have a blue plaque for Enoch?” ... just two of the questions that provoked intense debate when the city’s evening newspaper, the Express and Star, brought together a panel to discuss Powell’s “Rivers of Blood Speech – 50 years on.”
The audience at Wolverhampton Literary Festival voted four to one against a blue plaque and gave short [ ... ]
GeneralRead more...
The 31 pit closures announced in October 1992 were a point of no return for the British coalfields, the eventual death knell for deep mining and the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.
A botched announcement, a Tory party revolt, and an embarrassing U-turn for John Major only months after being re-elected Prime Minister, did bring about a temporary reprieve, but the closures went ahead, ready for a [ ... ]
Trade Union ReportingRead more...
Whereas many of the highly-alarming scenarios about electing Jeremy Corbyn as Prime Minister have tended to bounce back ineffectually, there is one narrative that could have a deadly impact on his political future.
His much-publicised appearance on the front cover of GQ, an upmarket men’s magazine, opened up a developing story line that could be seriously destabilising for a party leader who is admired [ ... ]
Spin by Political PartiesRead more...
Rarely in the confusing fog of post-Leave news coverage is there a greater responsibility on the BBC and other public service broadcasters to be fearless in reporting the consequences of Brexit.
For much of commerce and industry the end of 2017 and the start of 2018 is the tipping point for decisions on future investment and the transfer of jobs to the European Union.
Project Deception - the cover-up [ ... ]
GeneralRead more...
The recent death of prominent trade union leaders demonised during the industrial conflicts of the 1980s was a reminder of the price that can be paid when public figures get on the wrong side of shifts in public opinion -- a fate that might well await the Brexit cheerleaders.
Union officials involved in the so-called Winter of Discontent and the momentous strikes of the Thatcher years were already [ ... ]
Trade Union ReportingRead more...
Tabloid newspaper readers might be forgiven for thinking that the tag Teflon Corbyn is misplaced, given the dire predictions as to what might happen should the Labour Party win the next general election and Jeremy Corbyn becomes Prime Minister.
While not having quite the same ring as Teflon Tony -- recognition of the way trouble did not stick initially to Tony Blair -- the Corbyn nickname does reflect [ ... ]
Election CampaignsRead more...- Jeremy Corbyn ends Labour’s Blair-induced fear of Tory tabloids
- Theresa May duped by anti-Corbyn bile of Conservative-supporting press
- Hard Brexit being downplayed? A calculated pre-election strategy by Tory press
- Ultra-Brexiteers putting frighteners on BBC
- Hunt continues for secrets of the Battle of Orgreave
- What does Arthur Scargill have in common with Donald Trump? Attacking the media
- Hitting fast-forward rather than play-back on miners’ strike
- Journalists assisting politicians: was I perhaps as culpable as my father 50 years ago?
- EU Referendum: a cowed BBC, hardly the broadcasters finest hour
- Pub regulars hardly a representative sample for European Union referendum vox pops
- Black and white photographs of Battle of Orgreave saved the day for arrested pickets
- Baiting the media: Donald Trump’s tirades against journalists mirror Arthur Scargill’s tactics in miners’ strike
- Memoirs of a celebrated government press supremo revel in the early years of spin
- Conversational journalism rules OK!
- Untold story of international help in 1984-85 miners’ strike