I was chatting to the former Political Editor of the Evening Standard last Friday.
Actually that's not true; I was merely seated in a lecture theatre he was talking at. However, by controlling the flow of information I was able to exaggerate my importance and pull the wool over your eyes.
I committed spin.
Charles Reiss knows a thing or two about spin. He argues that it has created a culture of mistrust, double-dealing and downright untruthfulness which has undermined the public's trust in their political system and their news media. He brought along some impressive stats showing the number of people who regard newspapers as "a fair and unbiased source of news" is... 6%. The percentage of people who trust politicians to tell the truth just 19%, but journalists score a woeful 13%.
Why is this? Because journalists have to walk the razor's edge between exclusive and accurate, informative and entertaining. Because bulldog interviewers tear apart politicians unless they spout the party line. Because we hold our public figures to such impossibly high standards of behaviour that changing your mind or insulting Jamie Oliver is an unforgivable sin.
So what does Mr Reiss propose to do about this? Simply to tell the truth. Truth breeds trust. If the media and politics was honest and transparent, then trust in these institutions would be restored.
Yeah, and when hell freezes over it'll solve the global warming crisis.
Actually that's not true; I was merely seated in a lecture theatre he was talking at. However, by controlling the flow of information I was able to exaggerate my importance and pull the wool over your eyes.
I committed spin.
Charles Reiss knows a thing or two about spin. He argues that it has created a culture of mistrust, double-dealing and downright untruthfulness which has undermined the public's trust in their political system and their news media. He brought along some impressive stats showing the number of people who regard newspapers as "a fair and unbiased source of news" is... 6%. The percentage of people who trust politicians to tell the truth just 19%, but journalists score a woeful 13%.
Why is this? Because journalists have to walk the razor's edge between exclusive and accurate, informative and entertaining. Because bulldog interviewers tear apart politicians unless they spout the party line. Because we hold our public figures to such impossibly high standards of behaviour that changing your mind or insulting Jamie Oliver is an unforgivable sin.
So what does Mr Reiss propose to do about this? Simply to tell the truth. Truth breeds trust. If the media and politics was honest and transparent, then trust in these institutions would be restored.
Yeah, and when hell freezes over it'll solve the global warming crisis.
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