Abstract
As the searchlight of official committees of inquiry has focused on the British media over the last year or so, I have reflected on Max Weber’s advice to social scientists: never lose your capacity to be astonished.
Unfolding before us has been a sometimes complex and often a hitherto hidden tale of shabbiness in public life, which from time to time has tipped over into corruption. It is the scale of these activities in the higher echelons of society which is so troubling and disconcerting. Unacceptable media-police relations, especially in the Metropolis; the troublesome interconnection between the two main political parties and the media, especially the mass circulation tabloids; media practices of news gathering that have already resulted in jail sentences, have been an unhappy surprise to all but the most cynical of citizens. We have been given an insight into the taken-for granted cultural practices of the power elite in our society.
The last thirty years of the British media press (and increasingly of television) have been dominated by Rupert Murdoch: not so much an elephant as a kangaroo in the room. An apostle of the free market, in reality he has practised the economics of monopoly capitalism, hopping to the ownership of the Sun, News of the World (now no longer with us) the Times and Sunday Times, helped in the early stages, as we now know, by Prime Minister Thatcher. On he went to the United States to further media conquests, including the Wall Street Journal and the notoriously ideological television channel, Fox News. Indeed, when he appeared before the House of Commons Culture and Media Committee, he explained that his international interests were so great that he could not be expected to know the details of what was going on in the UK. Yet it is the resources of this global corporation that have been brought to bear in the contest for the control of satellite television in Britain, the corporation BSkyB.
The Leveson Inquiry into press standards has shown great tenacity in its cross examination of owners, editors, senior policemen, celebrities, journalists and members of the public who, in tragic circumstances, have been victims of phone hacking. Issues of censorship, freedom of the press, what is in the public interest and what is merely of interest to the public, the accountability and governance of the media have been raised, all of which reminds us of the ethical questions which surround the practice of journalism. At a time when media studies is sometimes rubbished as a Mickey Mouse subject, it is surely important to stress the importance of media literacy, not least during the digital revolution which is transforming our experience of what modern media are about.
In all of this we should recognise the importance of investigative journalism which can throw light into dark places. The Guardian’s work in bringing corrupt journalistic practices to light is a reminder of what can be done.