本帖最後由 felicity2010 於 2011-7-12 12:25 PM 編輯 , r. l% j, e8 G' f( y- y) l* V& X
: N$ w/ c! k& k& W This media is corrupt – we need a Hippocratic oath for journalists ( u1 e* \$ ^/ V* ?os.tvboxnow.com George Monbiot The Guardian公仔箱論壇" I8 f* h g7 a c- K3 P
3 J0 D$ E j1 F0 z/ M3 A2 ?- Eos.tvboxnow.comIs Murdoch now finished in the UK? As the pursuit of Gordon Brown by the Sunday Times and the Sun blows the hacking scandal into new corners of the old man's empire, this story begins to feel like the crumbling of the Berlin Wall. The naked attempt to destroy Brown by any means, including hacking the medical files of his sick baby son, means that there is no obvious limit to the story's ramifications.os.tvboxnow.com+ s6 }8 d3 }; N
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The scandal radically changes public perceptions of how politics works,the danger corporate power presents to democracy, and the extent to which it has compromised and corrupted the Metropolitan police, who have now been dragged in so deep they are beginning to look like Murdoch's private army. It has electrified a dozy parliament and subjected the least accountable and most corrupt profession in Britain –journalism – to belated public scrutiny.公仔箱論壇' f: |* l" Z' T8 m* Y7 a
3 h% O& g& j @/ f# g8 \. S3 XThe cracks are appearing in the most unexpected places. Look at the remarkable admission by the right wing columnist Janet Daley in this week's Sunday Telegraph. "British political journalism is basically a club to which politicians and journalists both belong," she wrote. "It is this familiarity, this intimacy, this set of shared assumptions … which is the real corruptor of political life. The self-limiting spectrum of what can and cannot be said … the self-reinforcing cowardice which takes for granted that certain vested interests are too powerful to be worth confronting. All of these things are constant dangers in the political life of any democracy." $ f' \$ w' w4 L5 o# v公仔箱論壇TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。* K }( ?( W3 |- G
Most national journalists are embedded, immersed in the society, beliefs and culture of the people they are meant to hold to account. They are fascinated by power struggles among the elite but have little interest in the conflict between the elite and those they dominate. They celebrate those with agency and ignore those without. 9 f d9 ]# \% n4 K) M& c- s公仔箱論壇1 f2 ^. E# `- A9 T5 x0 Z
But this is just part of the problem. Daley stopped short of naming the most persuasive force: the interests of the owner and the corporate class to which he belongs. The proprietor appoints editors in his own image – who impress their views on their staff. Murdoch's editors, like those who work for the other proprietors, insist that they think and act independently.公仔箱論壇8 E! y+ |. z6 F# x, i: x
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It's a lie exposed by the concurrence of their views (did all 247 News Corp editors just happen to support the invasion of Iraq?), and blown out of the water by Andrew Neil's explosive testimony in 2008 before the Lords select committee on communications. ' K: f7 g7 z ytvb now,tvbnow,bttvb ' w! e& F7 ] t1 |/ e& r, xos.tvboxnow.comThe papers cannot announce that their purpose is to ventriloquise the concerns of multimillionaires; they must present themselves as the voice of the people. The Sun, the Mail and the Express claim to represent the interests of the working man and woman. These interests turn out to be identical to those of the men who own the papers.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb e* z( [" v" J8 D# {, w# o
0 x( e5 z. d/ E9 S# A公仔箱論壇So the right wing papers run endless exposures of benefit cheats, yet say scarcely a word about the corporate tax cheats. They savage the trade unions and excoriate the BBC. They lambast the regulations that restrain corporate power. They school us in the extrinsic values – the worship of power, money,image and fame – which advertisers love but which make this a shallower, more selfish country. Most of them deceive their readers about the causes of climate change. These are not the obsessions of working people. They are the obsessions thrust upon them by the multimillionaires who own these papers.公仔箱論壇- D+ z/ N' h. p
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The corporate media is a gigantic astroturfing operation: a fake grassroots crusade serving elite interests. In this respect the media companies resemble the Tea Party movement, which claims to be a spontaneous rising of blue-collar Americans against the elite but was founded with the help of the billionaire Koch brothers and promoted by Murdoch's Fox News. ! x$ J+ d! Y/ W; a) Y3 b1 WTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。 ! Z3 D& z. c# y! _Journalism's primary purpose is to hold power to account. This purpose has been perfectly inverted. Columnists and bloggers are employed as the enforcers of corporate power, denouncing people who criticise its interests,stamping on new ideas, bullying the powerless. The press barons allowed governments occasionally to promote the interests of the poor, but never to hamper the interests of the rich. They also sought to discipline the rest of the media. The BBC, over the last 30 years, became a shadow of the gutsy broadcaster it was, and now treats big business with cringing deference. Every morning at 6.15, the Today programme's business report grants executives the kind of unchallenged access otherwise reserved for God on Thought for the Day.The rest of the programme seeks out controversy and sets up discussions between opponents, but these people are not confronted by their critics.TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。/ z6 f2 E3 L5 \- a$ e/ g1 }+ \
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So what can be done? Because of the peculiar threat they present to democracy there's a case to be made for breaking up all majority interests in media companies, and for a board of governors, appointed perhaps by Commons committee, to act as a counterweight to the shareholders' business interests.( l% T! l1 K$ [
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But even if that's a workable idea, it's a long way off. For now, the best hope might be to mobilise readers to demand that journalists answer to them, not just their proprietors. One means of doing this is to lobby journalists to commit themselves to a kind of Hippocratic oath. Here's a rough stab at a first draft. I hope others can improve it. Ideally, I'd like to see the National Union of Journalists building on it and encouraging its members to sign. M- h+ e; C8 k ~* }1 GTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。! L3 K9 @! U8 ]1 ~% m& P# }' C! P
'Our primary task is to hold power to account. We will prioritise those stories and issues which expose the interests of power. We will be wary of the relationships we form with the rich and powerful, and ensure that we don't become embedded in their society. We will not curry favour with politicians,businesses or other dominant groups by withholding scrutiny of their affairs,or twisting a story to suit their interests. ) e; L( o: T2 P+ ~3 X# dTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。" g: f1 Q$ b3 o" k: `9 L4 ?% e
"We will stand up to the interests of the businesses we work for,and the advertisers which fund them. We will never take money for promulgating a particular opinion, and we will resist attempts to oblige us to adopt one.tvb now,tvbnow,bttvb8 t# q( Z! t- F& W% {6 _
2 R( k7 F* D6 Y) h+ u* S"We will recognise and understand the power we wield and how it originates. We will challenge ourselves and our perception of the world as much as we challenge other people. When we turn out to be wrong, we will say so."公仔箱論壇- y9 K& ^1 L" t
TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。) |" ~7 Y! `9 O: ?
I accept that this doesn't directly address the power relations that govern the papers. But it might help journalists to assert a measure of independence, and readers to hold them to it. Just as voters should lobby their MPs to represent them and not just the whips, readers should seek to drag journalists away from the demands of their editors. The oath is one possibletool that could enhance reader power. 3 b5 ?1 v! b! D) p, I4 Vos.tvboxnow.com & c) ]0 L& |6 I* c( f; y i# q/ dtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbIf you don't like it, suggest a better idea. Something has to change:never again should a half a dozen oligarchs be allowed to dominate and corrupt the life of this country.作者: aa00 時間: 2011-7-12 06:51 PM
本帖最後由 felicity2010 於 2011-7-14 11:17 PM 編輯 os.tvboxnow.com* \5 i, j( c Z. }+ g! h
0 s0 c+ ?: ^7 d: J! y4 T* ]# Mtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbNews International scandal: The sky falls in " k; @: L" C; q" tTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。 The Guardian 13 July 2011公仔箱論壇) c% m: W* G/ y; t+ l
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[attach]1426755[/attach] 9 ^0 v7 J8 o1 q) F, c+ U/ hos.tvboxnow.com # D# D9 n( y3 lIt is a measure of how much has been achieved in this revolutionary week that by the time David Cameron set out details of the inquiry into media and police standards on Wednesday lunchtime, and News Corporation announced it was dropping its bid for BSkyB soon after, both things seemed natural and unavoidable. A wave of public and political contempt is reshaping the landscape. At the start of the month no senior politician dared defy Rupert Murdoch. Now, all of them have. Party leaders united around the terms of the inquiry and the Labour-sponsored Commons debate – itself presaged by the collapse of the deal it had been arranged to condemn.2 x/ S" E% Z# q+ g
/ J8 i* N7 I; eYesterday Wednesday brought a drama in four acts. At prime minister's questions Mr Cameron sought unsuccessfully to rid himself of the taint of proximity to the News International executives who oversaw phone hacking, of which more in a moment. In his Commons statement, the prime minister set out the terms of an inquiry into media standards of extraordinary scope and potential. By mid-afternoon, News Corporation pulled the plug on the BSkyB deal: a victory for plurality over the power of a rootless corporation. In particular it was a success for Ed Miliband, whose decision to break with News International has become the definitive act of his leadership so far. Finally, Gordon Brown delivered a powerful speech whose justified moral outrage was only equalled by its divisive consequences in the chamber. - Q2 h) }/ e! O公仔箱論壇TVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。* `4 {: h* r( B
Mr. Brown presented himself in retrospect as a white knight who stood up to the Murdoch empire, only to be let down by the timidity of others. Not everything at the time was like that. The Brown government was far from pure in its dealings with the press. But the former prime minister was on firmer ground when he questioned Mr. Cameron's record. The prime minister's response raised further significant questions about his slapdash approach to phone hacking and the appointment of Andy Coulson as his media adviser. ! l' R0 n. R! K9 `* f3 e ) n( u: y3 d2 f! M2 {6 k公仔箱論壇In February 2010, this paper ran a story which should have given Mr Cameron pause for thought. For legal reasons it contained only limited details of the News of the World's decision, while Mr. Coulson was editor, to employ a private investigator who had served a seven-year sentence for perverting the course of justice and who had been charged with conspiracy to murder. Believing that Mr. Cameron should be made aware in private of the full details, the Guardian passed them to his senior adviser, Steve Hilton. 5 Y1 {7 c4 W8 Z& ?# Jtvb now,tvbnow,bttvbTVBNOW 含有熱門話題,最新最快電視,軟體,遊戲,電影,動漫及日常生活及興趣交流等資訊。. D2 M0 W9 {, T* Q; U
In the Commons, however, Mr. Cameron told MPs that the Guardian passed no significant private information about Mr. Coulson to his staff. That is incorrect. Second, he suggested that the Guardian had been able to put all the significant facts of the story in the public domain at the time. That is incorrect, too. Third, he claimed that the fact that the editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, did not mention the story to him at two later meetings implied it was not important. That is an evasion: the first meeting followed the private warning and the second took place after Mr. Coulson had resigned. Mr Cameron could have been in full possession of the facts, and acted on them, had he chosen to be. Instead he gave Mr. Coulson a job in Downing Street.os.tvboxnow.com2 D: P; }# x5 P7 A
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This matters because at the core of the whole affair lies the shoddy and secret way in which some powerful media groups have dealt with political leaders from both main parties. In this, Mr. Cameron may not even be the greatest sinner. But he happens to be the prime minister who must address all what has gone on. He cannot do so properly while he continues to evade the truth of his own past dealings.The world is changing. Mr Murdoch's spell has been broken. The BSkyB deal is off. The inquiry can lead to a cleaner, more plural, future. Mr. Cameron is trapped by his past.