With registration to elect the next Labour leader ending today, Charlie Beckett writes about the ongoing debate within the party.
This is the most exciting and depressing phase of debate within a modern British political party that I can recall. The argument about the leadership of the Labour Party mostly encapsulates what’s wrong with that organisation but also wider left-wing […]
Andy Coulson, former editor of the now defunct News of the World tabloid and David Cameron’s former communications chief, has been found guilty of conspiring to hack phones. His co-defendant, Rebekah Brooks, has been cleared of all charges. Charlie Beckett believes the verdict places more of a burden on editors to cultivate a culture of responsibility and accountability in their newsrooms.
The verdict in […]
Graphic images of the senseless tragedy in Woolwich on Wednesday were displayed prominently by the mainstream media. Charlie Beckett asks whether the media should have done this or if some images are better left unpublished. Should the media have shown the images of the Woolwich attacker? For me the simple answer is ‘yes’, but that each of these cases must be put […]
Charlie Beckett explores the lessons in political communication given by Nigel Farage and UKIP. In an age of scepticism the one value that the voters want – authenticity – is rendered undeliverable by a professional political class that seek to secure their power with risk-averse, non-interactive communication. Farage has been able to appeal to voters precisely because he is genuine and unrehearsed, and because UKIP […]
Charlie Beckett looks back at Margaret Thatcher’s engagement with the media, arguing that she and her press team pioneered modern political communications. Yet while the innovations of her time in office were integral to the emergence of our modern age of spin, she nonetheless had little fear of acting in ways which were likely to be divisive. Margaret Thatcher was the […]
Charlie Beckett argues that if we are to understand the potential value of any piece of research we should not circumscribe its audience by academic gate keeping. Ideally the academic will be the journalist, though it might be that there is a ‘translator’ or a special structure – such as a think-tank – that can act as the journalist for the research. Journalism […]
With an increasingly vocal press crusade decrying the possible introduction of statutory regulation, Charlie Beckett is surprised to find himself on their side. He worries that the virtues of our free, raucous and imperfect press are easily forgotten. He argues that, with a few exceptions, it is difficult to find an example of a thriving independent press. The possibility of creeping erosion of press […]
Gallery
Gallery
Ethics will be as central as economics to the future of the news industry
Ethics will be as central as economics to the future of the news industry
Trust and relevance are the best way to get news consumers to pay for content, argues Charlie Beckett.
I do not know of any industry that has been through such an existential crisis as journalism has in the last decade or so. I spent over 20 years working in news and current affairs before joining the LSE nine years ago […]