Wednesday, 25 February 2009
Monday, 23 February 2009
Reporting the crash of '08
Today I attended a talk at the LSE titled "Why did nobody see it coming? Reporting the Global Crash of ‘08"
organized by the Media think tank at the LSE.
The talk brought together professionals who all were supposed to have a stake in reporting the crash of the economy- Evan Davis of the BBC; Alex Brummer of the Daily Mail, Vince Cable MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor and Gillian Tett, Assistant Editor, The Financial Times; and Professor Williem Butler of the LSE as key pannelists.
They all shared one common idea-that the media had no stake crash and completely didn't see it coming. Common logic would urge one to question how it is that the media through all its vast networks and expertise could not predict that the crash was coming?!
The discussion however led to a convincing enough debate to side with the view that the media really did NOT see it coming. Reasons cited were that the financial PR machinery were so well armed that they did not allow rumours like this to float. The gentleman from the Daily Mail claimed that dissenting voices were not really heard and were burried on the last pages of the papers. The FT speaker claimed that journalists generally tend to mirror society and this resulted in social silence about the issue. Another claimed that the dangers of increasingly complex financial products created specialists in one area that were unable to comprehend. In this economy of specialists, there was no one who could really stand back and see that this was what was going to happen.
All very plausible arguments, but when you sit back from the discussions, you have to wonder, how is it that nobody saw it coming? There must be a lesson to be learnt from this. A more questioning media system perhaps that asks more incisive questions? More plurality of viewpoints represented?
Valid questions, difficult to implement..
organized by the Media think tank at the LSE.
The talk brought together professionals who all were supposed to have a stake in reporting the crash of the economy- Evan Davis of the BBC; Alex Brummer of the Daily Mail, Vince Cable MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor and Gillian Tett, Assistant Editor, The Financial Times; and Professor Williem Butler of the LSE as key pannelists.
They all shared one common idea-that the media had no stake crash and completely didn't see it coming. Common logic would urge one to question how it is that the media through all its vast networks and expertise could not predict that the crash was coming?!
The discussion however led to a convincing enough debate to side with the view that the media really did NOT see it coming. Reasons cited were that the financial PR machinery were so well armed that they did not allow rumours like this to float. The gentleman from the Daily Mail claimed that dissenting voices were not really heard and were burried on the last pages of the papers. The FT speaker claimed that journalists generally tend to mirror society and this resulted in social silence about the issue. Another claimed that the dangers of increasingly complex financial products created specialists in one area that were unable to comprehend. In this economy of specialists, there was no one who could really stand back and see that this was what was going to happen.
All very plausible arguments, but when you sit back from the discussions, you have to wonder, how is it that nobody saw it coming? There must be a lesson to be learnt from this. A more questioning media system perhaps that asks more incisive questions? More plurality of viewpoints represented?
Valid questions, difficult to implement..
Monday, 16 February 2009
Welcome!
Welcome to this space!
My aim is to make this a space for reflection, critique and discussion about media events accross the world today. The media truly the power to transform lives and shape opinions accross the world. This blog serves to capture cases and reflect on trends of media's influence on people in all parts of the world.
My aim is to make this a space for reflection, critique and discussion about media events accross the world today. The media truly the power to transform lives and shape opinions accross the world. This blog serves to capture cases and reflect on trends of media's influence on people in all parts of the world.
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