2024 is the year of elections but how is the role of trusted journalism changing in an increasingly polarised world where social media is dominant and misinformation is rife?
At this BSME event, we spoke to leading political journalists and editors about the recent general election and the early days of Keir Starmer's new government, plus we discussed the forthcoming US Presidential vote and broader trends when it comes to reporting on politics in the UK and around the world.
We asked how magazine brands can stay relevant and navigate this increasingly fast-paced and partisan environment.
BSME chair Gideon Spanier hosted the panel and was joined by
Aletha Adu, political correspondent of The Guardian
Francis Elliott, editor of The House magazine
Ava Evans, political correspondent for JOE
Simon Marks, LBC Washington Correspondent
Fraser Nelson, editor of The Spectator
The discussion took place in Saint Martin's Hall in Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London.
SUMMARY
“The proper relationship between journalist and politician should be like that between a dog and a lamp-post,” the writer HL Mencken once memorably said, and that was evident at the BSME’s politics event, “Reporting on the Year of Elections”, at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square.
The five-strong panel included Fraser Nelson, the editor of The Spectator, who was speaking just days before it was announced Michael Gove was succeeding him. Nelson was joined by Aletha Adu, political correspondent of The Guardian, Ava Evans, political correspondent for PoliticsJOE, Francis Elliott, editor of The House magazine, and Simon Marks, Washington correspondent of LBC, to discuss the importance of trusted journalism in the UK and US elections.
Evans said, “I don't think that we [the UK press] were on our best form” in the recent general election. She thought that journalists had relied too heavily on opinion polls that repeatedly showed a Labour landslide. Having decided the outcome of the elections, they failed to critique the incoming government. Elliott agreed. “I think we became bewitched by these ghastly MRP polls. We spend ages reporting on what is essentially voodoo.”
Adu had a more nuanced view. She said there were some major topics such as Gaza “that were sort of lost once the campaign got going” yet journalists also broke some key stories such as Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave the D-Day commemorations early and the scandal around political figures gambling on the 4 July election date.
Evans addressed the issue of public mistrust of news journalism: “For a long time journalists have not necessarily been trusted and there is a distrust in the media. This means that it's very difficult for us to be able to convey some truth.”
Nelson said that in an effort to remain non-partisan, some journalists have become wary of calling out and correcting factual errors. “I think the Conservative campaign was based on lies. When you see such information coming from any political party, if they try to say that two plus two is five, it's our job to say absolutely that it's not. To be honest, we shouldn't even report it.”
The Spectator has set up what Nelson has called a "Red team", staffed by four people, to check facts in its articles and opinion columns.
Surveying the media landscape, Adu noted: “We've got former politicians who are hosting podcasts now, and it seems to me that there is this weird crossover between what is opinion and what's actual fact. People have a huge amount of experience to share their opinions on what the government should be doing or they're not doing. But ultimately, it's very hard to distinguish what is actual journalism, what is actual reporting, and what is opinion.”
Elliott thinks the parliamentary lobby would benefit from more specialist journalists. “The lobby is full of generalists," he said, "I've always been frustrated that the interface between the specialist reporters back in HQ and the political reporting and the lobby wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. So I tried my best to work with specialists to highlight stories such as the Post Office scandal.”
Marks, who hosts LBC’s American Week and is also a columnist for Saga magazine, offered a US perspective as he has covered every Presidential convention since 1996. “It's bizarre that we have to live in a country where the microphones are switched off, except when the candidate is being asked a question,” he said, referring to the recent US Presidential TV debate. “It's all a facet of a failing democracy.”
He warned the media still isn't fully ready to cover the US elections: “The American media has not learned from the four years of Donald Trump's presidency – his ability to say to the media 'don't look here, look over here.’ And everybody, like a fish on a hook, goes over here and wastes time focusing on nonsense.”
So, who will win the US election? Marks was cautious but tipped Kamala Harris: “I think she might sneak it, but the only outcome that doesn't lead to mayhem if she wins is for her to win a landslide – popular vote and electoral college. And I see no sign of that happening. And it's got to be both.”
The conversation turned to increasing polarisation and abuse that journalists sometimes face. Nelson pointed out that it's women, and particularly younger women, who bear the heavier burden of vicious criticism, and he said editors need to be more aware of the potential risks ahead of publication. Adu added some negative comments were “not always public” — “it’s more the DMs, the emails”, she said.
Nelson also discussed the likely plans of Paul Marshall, the new owner of The Spectator, who paid £100m for the magazine earlier this month.
There was no hint of an imminent change of editor, but Nelson revealed he had had little contact with the previous owners, the Barclay family, during his 15 years in charge and said editors should “actively ignore” suggestions from proprietors. “If you get sacked for it, you get sacked for it – but you hold the line,” he said, adding to laughter from the audience: “Famous last words.”
Words: Devangi Sharma
