Veteran US journalist Howard Weaver writing on the editor’s blog for the American McClatchy newspaper group has posted about the Polis debate on impartiality. It is clear that Howard doesn’t think that we Brits do impartiality very well outside of the BBC Radio 4

Beckett, Charlie

LSE Research Online

2007-11-15Do they mean us? An American view of UK mediablogs.lse.ac.uk /polis/2007/11/15/do-they-mean-us-an-american-view-of-uk-media/Veteran US journalist Howard Weaver writing on the editor’s blog for the American McClatchy newspapergroup has posted about the Polis debate on impartiality. It is clear that Howard doesn’t think that we Brits doimpartiality very well outside of the BBC Radio 4. What makes this really interesting is that Howard was in the UKback in 1993 and he gives a link to his journal written at the time:The cynicism is widely manifest. One kind is apparent here in the way newspapers are so overtlypolitical-both in terms of being partisan, and in the sense of buying into the political agenda of whatmatters. Admittedly, British politics matter more to Brits than to me, but I just can’t imagine readersreally wanting the steady diet of political skirmish and positioning that winds up in the headlines hereday after day after tiresome day.So not much changed there then. Howard was at Cambridge University at the time so he didn’t have muchaccess to telly, but he works his way through 1993 BBC radio. He likes Radio 2’s eclectic musical taste (noreally) but just watch a Yank fall in love with the heartland of bourgeois middle England:And then there is Radio 4. This is the BBC public affairs and entertainment channel, a wondrous mixof skillful interview shows, radio drama, a soap opera (The Archers) that seems to have captivatedeverybody in Britain except me, and lots of news. From the schedule for today (printed every day inthe papers, which also *cover* radio): Shipping Weather Forecast, Woman’s Hour (pelvicinflammatory diseases), Thirty-Minute Theater (Theatre, here, of course), an interview show with theheads of music and musical instrument departments at Sotheby’s, a science show, a feature onQueen Victoria’s Scottish bodyguard, A Book At Bedtime, and much, much more, 5:55 a.m. tillmidnight, every day.There are a couple of panel/game shows that Barb and I try especially to catch.One is called “Just A Minute,” and it requires panelists to discourse on the subject provided for a fullminute, subject to challenges from competitors for pauses, repetition or general silliness. It’ssurprisingly adept.Howard even tries to master cricket rules but reckons our sports reporting is not on a par with that in theStates. He was right then but I think that is one area where we have caught up a bit since 1993. All I can sayto Howard is “come back over”. For a high-minded chap like you we now have BBC 4! (Just don’t turn onBBC3 by mistake…) The papers are slightly less rabid but then so is our politics. 1993 was a particularlyvicious period. I’d love to know what you make of our online media, too. How about the Guardian’sComment Is Free, for example? But then as most of our best online sites are now swamped by Americansanyway I would suggest that perhaps we have more to offer than you thought?Copyright © 2014 London School of Economics and Political Science1/1

Do they mean us? An American view of UK media

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

LSE Research Online