This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/media/commentisfree/2019/jul/28/what-lessons-can-the-uk-media-learn-from-us-reporting-on-trump

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
What lessons can the UK media learn from US reporting on Trump? What lessons can the UK media learn from US reporting on Trump?
(32 minutes later)
If one wanted a metaphor for the perils and trials of modern political journalism, then perhaps the shirtless man with a glockenspiel who has been hammering away outside the Houses of Parliament can provide one (as well as a nifty rendition of Axel F).If one wanted a metaphor for the perils and trials of modern political journalism, then perhaps the shirtless man with a glockenspiel who has been hammering away outside the Houses of Parliament can provide one (as well as a nifty rendition of Axel F).
Glockenspiel man provided the noisy background music for the momentous transition from Theresa May to the great dissembler. He made a good fist of drowning out every political interview on every major broadcast channel last week as Boris Johnson made it to Downing Street. If only there were some soundproof structure where politicians could be quietly interviewed without external interruption. You could call it a studio. Maybe the producers will work it out one day, or maybe the editors like the theatre of distraction a little too much.Glockenspiel man provided the noisy background music for the momentous transition from Theresa May to the great dissembler. He made a good fist of drowning out every political interview on every major broadcast channel last week as Boris Johnson made it to Downing Street. If only there were some soundproof structure where politicians could be quietly interviewed without external interruption. You could call it a studio. Maybe the producers will work it out one day, or maybe the editors like the theatre of distraction a little too much.
The currently outlandish political circumstances and the fascination of a charismatic, controversial leader provide endless easy copy, but they also throw down a challenge to political journalists. Somehow, as events move at breakneck speed, the important and the substantive has to be sorted from the fake and superficial. The journalists preparing to cover Boris Johnson, prime minister, could do worse than examine the pitfalls encountered in the US during three years of Trump. The strong parallels between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have been sketched out – the hair, the economy with the truth, the divisiveness – but there are also plenty of lessons from the US on how not to cover the new normal.The currently outlandish political circumstances and the fascination of a charismatic, controversial leader provide endless easy copy, but they also throw down a challenge to political journalists. Somehow, as events move at breakneck speed, the important and the substantive has to be sorted from the fake and superficial. The journalists preparing to cover Boris Johnson, prime minister, could do worse than examine the pitfalls encountered in the US during three years of Trump. The strong parallels between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have been sketched out – the hair, the economy with the truth, the divisiveness – but there are also plenty of lessons from the US on how not to cover the new normal.
The most important story in the US last week was the testimony of former special counsel Robert Mueller to two congressional committees about the contents of his report into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The substance of his testimony was that there was interference, and that it continues. Whatever we already knew, this was still momentous stuff. However, the way in which Mueller was covered told a different story. The success of his appearance was judged on the basis of form not content. Chuck Todd, the NBC commentator, set the tone, observing that: “On substance, Democrats got what they wanted. On optics, this was a disaster.”The most important story in the US last week was the testimony of former special counsel Robert Mueller to two congressional committees about the contents of his report into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The substance of his testimony was that there was interference, and that it continues. Whatever we already knew, this was still momentous stuff. However, the way in which Mueller was covered told a different story. The success of his appearance was judged on the basis of form not content. Chuck Todd, the NBC commentator, set the tone, observing that: “On substance, Democrats got what they wanted. On optics, this was a disaster.”
The superficial coverage of Mueller gave media critics an opportunity to – once again – call out the tendency of US political journalists to review politics like a theatrical production; to focus on the drama and box-office quality of extraordinary times as opposed to digging deep into their significance. The Columbia Journalism Review’s public editor for MSNBC, Maria Bustillos, was scathing about both Todd’s assessment and those of other anchors on the station: “Politics isn’t entertainment,” she said, “it is not a performance to be critiqued … [it] is a public trust of solemn importance.”The superficial coverage of Mueller gave media critics an opportunity to – once again – call out the tendency of US political journalists to review politics like a theatrical production; to focus on the drama and box-office quality of extraordinary times as opposed to digging deep into their significance. The Columbia Journalism Review’s public editor for MSNBC, Maria Bustillos, was scathing about both Todd’s assessment and those of other anchors on the station: “Politics isn’t entertainment,” she said, “it is not a performance to be critiqued … [it] is a public trust of solemn importance.”
In the Atlantic, Todd S Purdum blasted the whole concept of “optics”’, judging it “the kryptonite of the modern media age, the glimmering, crystalline material that can subsume substance at every treacherous turn”. The coverage of Mueller is just the latest head-in-hands moment for US political coverage. Lessons are being learned at a snail’s pace and sometimes not at all. Margaret Sullivan, the media columnist for the Washington Post, suggested to me that the key lesson for journalists in unusual times is not to fall for normalisation. “Once they [politicians] hold high office it’s very hard not to treat such a person as just a variation on a governmental theme even if he is nothing of the kind.”In the Atlantic, Todd S Purdum blasted the whole concept of “optics”’, judging it “the kryptonite of the modern media age, the glimmering, crystalline material that can subsume substance at every treacherous turn”. The coverage of Mueller is just the latest head-in-hands moment for US political coverage. Lessons are being learned at a snail’s pace and sometimes not at all. Margaret Sullivan, the media columnist for the Washington Post, suggested to me that the key lesson for journalists in unusual times is not to fall for normalisation. “Once they [politicians] hold high office it’s very hard not to treat such a person as just a variation on a governmental theme even if he is nothing of the kind.”
Don’t let Johnson be your editor, don’t let him dictate the news cycleDon’t let Johnson be your editor, don’t let him dictate the news cycle
Kyle Pope, the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journalism Review, offers good advice for independent UK journalists in the wake of Trump: “I’d encourage UK reporters to be brutally honest with themselves and their audience, about who Boris is and what his motivations are, then move on. Don’t let him be their editor, don’t let him dictate the news cycle.”Kyle Pope, the editor-in-chief of the Columbia Journalism Review, offers good advice for independent UK journalists in the wake of Trump: “I’d encourage UK reporters to be brutally honest with themselves and their audience, about who Boris is and what his motivations are, then move on. Don’t let him be their editor, don’t let him dictate the news cycle.”
The (very necessary) self-examination being conducted by members of the US press is at least a start and sits in sharp contrast to the position of their counterparts in the UK where boundaries seem to be crossed without a care. The Daily Telegraph, where Johnson was a well-paid columnist up until entering No 10, is arguably closer and more bound up with Johnson than either Breitbart or Fox News is to Trump.The (very necessary) self-examination being conducted by members of the US press is at least a start and sits in sharp contrast to the position of their counterparts in the UK where boundaries seem to be crossed without a care. The Daily Telegraph, where Johnson was a well-paid columnist up until entering No 10, is arguably closer and more bound up with Johnson than either Breitbart or Fox News is to Trump.
Covering style over substance, tolerating deep conflicts of undeclared interest, magnifying and repeating things known to be untrue for attention or partisan advantage are historically more a feature of British political journalism than a bug. It is the business model of significant press empires, all the more so now they are imperilled by a market that can find entertainment more cheaply and easily elsewhere.Covering style over substance, tolerating deep conflicts of undeclared interest, magnifying and repeating things known to be untrue for attention or partisan advantage are historically more a feature of British political journalism than a bug. It is the business model of significant press empires, all the more so now they are imperilled by a market that can find entertainment more cheaply and easily elsewhere.
Max Hastings, the former editor of the Daily Telegraph and once a revered reporter himself, famously employed Boris Johnson as a “flamboyant “Brussels reporter. In this paper he wrote recently: “I have argued for a decade that, while he is a brilliant entertainer who made for a popular maitre d’ for London, he is unfit for national office.” But reporting on Brussels for the largest circulation broadsheet newspaper might arguably be seen as a type of public office too. It is certainly a position of responsibility. Perhaps if Hastings had applied the “fit for office” test to his own staff, we would not be in quite the same political mess as we are right now. Max Hastings, the former editor of the Daily Telegraph and once a revered reporter himself, famously employed Boris Johnson as a “flamboyant” Brussels reporter. In this paper he wrote recently: “I have argued for a decade that, while he is a brilliant entertainer who made for a popular maitre d’ for London, he is unfit for national office.” But reporting on Brussels for the largest circulation broadsheet newspaper might arguably be seen as a type of public office too. It is certainly a position of responsibility. Perhaps if Hastings had applied the “fit for office” test to his own staff, we would not be in quite the same political mess as we are right now.
Of course most journalists would resign rather than follow the Johnson template when doing their trade. It is worth repeating (often) that the fact we know anything of substance about our current political moment at all is down to the dogged work of researchers and reporters who keep unearthing and presenting the less entertaining aspects of public life.Of course most journalists would resign rather than follow the Johnson template when doing their trade. It is worth repeating (often) that the fact we know anything of substance about our current political moment at all is down to the dogged work of researchers and reporters who keep unearthing and presenting the less entertaining aspects of public life.
In the end, perhaps the biggest lesson the British media can learn from the US experience of Trump is that their work matters to people beyond their readership or audience, and to that end it needs to become more rigorous and more serious. On both sides of the Atlantic there is a circular firing squad of the commentariat who wonder, on a daily basis, how did this happen? The boring truth is that we need to pay attention to the substance and not the glockenspiel. When the circus has left town, we will need a reliable record to remind us of what happened, and how, and why.In the end, perhaps the biggest lesson the British media can learn from the US experience of Trump is that their work matters to people beyond their readership or audience, and to that end it needs to become more rigorous and more serious. On both sides of the Atlantic there is a circular firing squad of the commentariat who wonder, on a daily basis, how did this happen? The boring truth is that we need to pay attention to the substance and not the glockenspiel. When the circus has left town, we will need a reliable record to remind us of what happened, and how, and why.
Newspapers & magazinesNewspapers & magazines
OpinionOpinion
Boris JohnsonBoris Johnson
commentcomment
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content