Failures of the Fourth Estate

Flat Earth News by Nick Davies turns the spotlight on the workings of the press, says Mary Riddell writing in The Observer yesterday

Flat Earth News by Nick Davies Chatto & Windus £17.99,

Dog does not eat dog. This, as Nick Davies says, is an old Fleet Street convention. His latest book is 'a brazen attempt to break that rule'. It is a task that Davies more than fulfils, swallowing the leash and kennel for good measure. His diet sheet includes the British newspaper industry, its regulators and the PR machine that supplies it. Davies's title defines what he sees as lies, distortions and propaganda, all accepted without question. High-minded journalists tend to dislike their grubby trade much more than bankers hate banking, say, or teachers teaching. They also have better platforms. Davies is an award-winning Guardian reporter with a distinguished record in investigative journalism. There are few more qualified dog-eaters around.

Davies unmuzzled deplores the rise of 'churnalism'; the quick-turnover dross
peddled by hacks less scrupulous or fortunate than him. Costs are being
cut and standards eroded by greedy proprietors. Hidden persuaders are
manipulating truth. At its worst, the modern newsroom is a place of bungs
and bribes, whose occupants forage illicitly for scoops in databases and
dustbins. Newspapers hold others to account while hushing up their own
unsavoury methods. Self-regulation does not always offer fair (or any)
redress to citizens who have had lies written about them. Stories are often
pompous, biased or plain wrong. Some close scrutiny is not only
legitimate: it is overdue.

Much of Davies's analysis is fair, meticulously researched and fascinating, if gloomy.
Contrary to what he implies, though at least some regional papers are excellent
at fostering young talent. Nor is his paean to 'old-style reporting'
convincing to anyone recalling how traditional Fleet Street hands were
frequently befuddled by incompetence or drink or both. It seems elitist,
too, that Davies has chiefly confined his study to upmarket papers because
'nobody needs a book to tell them that tabloids are an unreliable source
of information about the world'.

The full review here.