Spinwatch: Is the tide turning? Are journalists who make it up finding even fewer hiding places?

By Nicolas Jones (April 17 2008)

It was modestly put but heartfelt nonetheless: bloggers believe that crap journalists are finally feeling the heat.

When a trio of celebrated bloggers were brought together by the Adam Smith Institute (16.4.2008) they were united in their belief that the collective strength of the new media was helping to start to improve the quality and accuracy of the main stream providers of news and information.

“Curbing the crap artists" was the ambitious claim of the organisers and each of the three speakers -- Tim Worstall, Guido Fawkes and Perry de Havilland -- had to explain why they believed the blogosphere could play its part in redefining the media, politicians and business.

Tim Worstall claimed an impressive tally of scalps and took great delight in having corrected even journalists as well known as Polly Toynbee and George Monbiot of the Guardian and Will Hutton of the Observer.

“Bloggers are taking the information which journalists such as these present to the public and then questioning it. Even if we only have a small audience for our blogs we are changing the world for the better because we are exposing the errors of the main stream media."

“Bloggers are a vital part of an information revolution and collectively we will always be better informed than any one individual journalist writing a newspaper article. We know when a journalist has got it wrong and we can point that out. The market place of ideas will sift and find the truth and that is the value of bloggers to a broader society."

Perry de Havilland (samizdata.net) thought the success of the new media was that it had changed the nature of information and the way it was handled. The impact on crap journalists, politicians and businesses was that it “makes the crap harder to hide" when they get it wrong.

Published by Spinwatch here

Slug path

asi-in-the-news/asi-in-the-news/spinwatch-is-the-tide-turning-are-journalists-who-make-it-up-finding-even-fewer-hiding-places

Joomla-id

2062

Old Teaser

With Public Finances Deteriorating, Government Should Raise £20bn From New Wave of Privatizations

The Adam Smith Institute's latest report – Privatization - Reviving the Momentum – calls on the government to embark on a new wave of privatizations, which could net the exchequer in excess of £20bn. Given the worsening state of the economy and the increasing tightness of the public finances, the report notes that such an inflow of funds would be very welcome.
 
In addition to the revenues generated for the government, a new wave of privatizations would also deliver significant operational benefits, the report says. Previous privatizations have delivered a wide range of improvements, including increased investment, lower prices, greater choice and better service for customers – as well as underpinning billions of pounds worth of economic activity.
 
The leading privatization candidates identified by the report include the Royal Mail, Channel 4, BBC Worldwide, Scottish Water, Northern Ireland Water, Glas Cymru, the National Air Traffic Control System, as well as government stakes in British Energy and the Nuclear industry.  
 
The report's author, investment analyst Nigel Hawkins, said:
 
"Privatization in the UK remains unfinished business. The task for Government, of whatever colour, should be to complete it and to reap the many benefits - including proceeds of some £20 billion."

Slug path

with-public-finances-deteriorating-government-should-raise-p20bn-from-new-wave-of-privatizations

Joomla-id

1988