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?
L-R: Simon Marks, Francis Elliot, Ava Evans, Fraser Nelson, Aletha Adu, Gideon Spanier
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.
PHOTOS
Photography: David Cotter
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LEARNINGS
In a free-ranging discussion, panellists at the BSME’s Reporting the Year of Elections event retreaded the highlights (and pitfalls) of this year UK’s snap election and the forthcoming US Presidential election.
Ava Evans, political correspondent for PoliticsJOE, said, “I don't think that we [the UK press] were on our best form.” 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.
Aletha Adu, political correspondent of The Guardian, also saw failings in the UK press’ coverage, in that no one predicted Jonathan Ashworth’s defeat in Leicester South and the strength of feeling over the Israel-Gaza conflict. “I feel like there were themes that were seen in the months leading up to the general election that were sort of lost once the campaign got going, that being the issue of Gaza,” she said.
The Spectator’s editor, Fraser Nelson, took a different view of the significance of the Labour victory. “There can be a tendency for us to see the number of seats as being reflective of the breakdown within the country, and that has never been less true than it is now,” he said. “Labour got three quarters of the seats, the highest proportion of seats since the war, but no government has ever got a lower proportion of votes than Labour got this year.”
He also feels that prioritising nonpartisan coverage can make journalists 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 2 plus 2 is 5, it's our job to say absolutely that it's not. To be honest, we shouldn't even report it.”
As well as discussing the public perception of the media, panellists also tackled the topics of misinformation and disinformation. Evans pointed out that by the time videos have been verified by social media sites, a fake clip could have travelled halfway around the world.
Simon Marks, host of LBC’s “American Week” said that 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.”
Marks believes democracy is failing in the US and the UK. “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. It's all a facet of a failing democracy.”
When surveying the political media landscape, Adu added, “We've got formal 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.”
The conversation turned to increasing polarisation and, in Nelson's words, “dog’s abuse” that journalists sometimes face. He pointed out that it's women who have to bear the heavier burden of vicious criticism. “The sort of abuse I get, it's not always public. It's more the DMs, the emails. It's very specific,” said Adu. “A lot of the time, even sometimes when I publish something that may not be exactly what the political party wants to publish, because it's revealing something that might be a bit critical, I worry about the sort of messages and emails that I'll get.”
So, who will win the US election? Marks said “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.”
A final word – and call to action – from Adu: “Don’t focus too much on ourselves and our own opinion. Sometimes when it comes to identity politics and culture wars, sometimes there are aspects of stories that are missed. Not intentionally. I just think sometimes it's just because some people are focused on their beliefs and their experiences.”
