The British Media: Testing The Limits
A new series of ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ has just started on Channel 4. For 14 weeks,3 to 5 million viewers will follow the occupants of ‘The House’ squabbling & sparring with each other. Channel 4 will be hoping something dramatic occurs as that will generate publicity and boost its ‘ratings’. That’s what happened last time. There was huge controversy about bullying & racism on the show. The ‘victim’,Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty,was the eventual winner (ie: the last one to leave the House). Her career since has prospered & her new movie was recently premiered in the UK.
More than 3 million people also buy ‘The Sun’,the UK’s biggest circulation daily newspaper. Its nearest & more subdued competitor,’The Daily Mail’ ( representing ‘Middle England’: pro-family,tax cuts & the Monarchy) sells ‘only’ around 2 million copies. The figures for the ‘quality press’ are much lower. The Daily Telegraph (conservative): 901,000; The Times (centre): 653,000; The Guardian & The Independent (both left of centre) 382,000 & 253,000 respectively. The Sun unashamedly specialises in sensationalism for commercial purposes. It also appears to provide the lead for the other ‘red-top’ tabloids and the gossip magazines (also known disparagingly as ‘the gutter press’). Where it goes they tend to follow. Kate Middleton (Prince William’s ex) is on the front pages whenever she is seen with another man. David Beckham was up,then down,now up again (until England are eliminated from the European Championship qualifiers).His wife Victoria is mocked for her emaciated looks and actress/singer pretensions.
Paul McCartney’s popularity is virtually unassailable.so Heather Mills (who he is divorcing) gets almost nil sympathy,despite her disability (only one leg).Being famous clearly has a downside. The ‘Curse of Hello’ has become legendary: Whenever an ‘A-list Couple’ invite the magazine into their home to report on their domestic bliss,they invariably break up a week or so later. One of the charges (among many others) directed at Venezuela’s now defunct RCTV was that it was insufficiently ‘educational’ (ie: too many telenovelas & quiz shows). If that criteria was applied here,half the publications would disappear and many programmes would be axed.
All this has a serious side. The Sun is convinced it can influence British Election results. So are the politicians,which is why the Labour & Conservative parties are battling to cultivate Rupert Murdoch ( owner of The Sun,The Times/Sunday Times, The New York Post,Fox News,Star TV(Asia) & a global media empire). It’s not clear yet who he will support next time. Tony Blair’s Government has been notoriously sensitive to criticism and has done its utmost to ‘spin’ the news. It has clashed frequently with (& tried to restrain) the BBC,particularly on Iraq. The BBC’s view is that it is a public service,derives its finances mainly from TV licence fees (not advertising or the private sector) and is required by its Charter to be impartial & objective.
Politicians have few problems with the media providing ‘entertainment’. They are somewhat less enthusiastic about its informative & investigative role. The Sun pushes the boundaries to the limits (though has to be careful not to infringe discrimination,libel and incitement laws). Immigration,security & sex scandals and domestic abuse are the recurring themes of its ‘news’ stories. Its style is often viewed abroad as tasteless,
offensive & xenophobic. It once described France’s ex President Jacques Chirac as a ‘hypocritical conniving worm’ and the Pope as ‘Papa Ratzi’. The British public though have a choice. Those that don’t like it don’t have to read it. In the view of PEN (The International Writers Association) this is a freedom & right which around the world is being increasingly & alarmingly curtailed.