I JOINED my former classmates from the journalism course at the old College of Business Studies for our Christmas lunch at which we also digested the results of the election the previous day.
How unusual it was to find the local results infinitely more cheering than the overall UK picture with Bullingdon boy Boris now triumphant. It seemed a nastier, more dishonest campaign than in previous years and we mulled over one stand-out moment which illustrated how far the media landscape has changed since we were bright-eyed 18-year-olds.
In a word, Twitter. While it provides an instant platform for news and debate that’s open to all, it also has its downsides.
The infamous photograph of the four-year-old boy lying on top of coats at Leeds Infirmary because there were no beds is a case in point. The story had been broken by the Yorkshire Evening Post and then was picked up by Britain's national press as well as social media. Then came the backlash, with fake posts on Facebook and Twitter from someone whose “good friend” worked at the hospital and knew that the picture had been staged to embarrass the Tories.
One woman, Margaret, wrote to the Evening Post saying she was a loyal reader and was disappointed that they had duped her with this set-up story that wasn’t true.
The paper’s editor, James Mitchinson, published his reply on the front page, in which he pointed out that the story had been brought to them by the boy’s mother. They checked it with the hospital, who not only confirmed the details but also apologised to the woman as they had been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people needing beds.
The editor pointed out that the accounts posting the fake story had since disappeared but those of his paper and his journalists were still there to be held to account.
He described how corrosive and sophisticated the proliferation of fake news was and he added: “I urge you to consider which news source you can get in touch with. Who is willing to look you in the eye and tell you they did their best to get it right versus those who pop up on Facebook, spout something so compelling that others share it, and with that undermine the truth and discombobulate decent citizens.
"Whatever you do, do not believe a stranger on social media who disappears into the night.”
There is no better defence of traditional journalism.
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SPEAKING of which, the BBC is getting it in the neck from both left and right, complaining that its coverage of the election campaign was biased. But it’s the Tories who are already issuing threats to abolish the licence fee.
Not content with costing the Corporation millions over no longer funding the over-75s, they’re now trying to decriminalise non-payment despite a report from a previous Conservative government-appointed inqury which decided that would be a bad move which would cost the BBC aroind £200 million in funding.
I admit my own bias as someone who worked for the BBC for a quarter of a century. But take a look across the Atlantic and ask yourself if that’s the sort of media you’d rather have.
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It is a good thing that there are now more women MPs at Westminster than ever before. Parliament should be properly representative and hopefully it will become less a braying, bullying and boorish private schoolboys’ forum with the greater female presence.
But I am uncomfortable with calls for the next Labour leader to be a woman, preferably from the north of England, with an authentically working-class background, and should wear a size six in shoes.
OK, I made that last bit up. But being female isn’t always necessarily better… Margaret Thatcher? Theresa May, anyone? It won’t be the toughest job finding someone better than Jeremy Corbyn. Lisa Nandy and Jess Phillips seem well able but so does Keir Starmer.
Let’s have the best candidate, whatever the gender.
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IT’S always nice to see a Christmas movie at this time of year. And who doesn’t love hearing Wham’s evergreen 'Last Christmas, I gave you my heart'?
So it must have seemed a no-brainer to put them together for a festive feel-good film.
Let me just say that Last Christmas, starring GoT actress Emilia Clarke and scripted by Emma Thompson is indeed Christmassy. It is a turkey.
It features the most laughable plot twist since Bobby Ewing emerged from the shower in Dallas. Go see It’s a Wonderful Life instead.
