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Jump to navigationJump to searchThere Is No Such Thing As A Free Press by Mick Hume (view source)
Revision as of 12:38, 16 October 2012
, 12:38, 16 October 2012no edit summary
Initially I'd been put off reading ''There's No Such Thing As A Free Press'' because it came from Imprint Academic. That's not a criticism of the publisher but an acknowledgement that they usually publish the more specialist works which can occasionally be a little too lofty for the layman, but a little research revealed the fact that Mick Hume had published a very left-wing magazine who was then recruited to work for ''The Times'' by Michael Gove. If nothing else I suspected that he must have a sense of humour. The book was worth a try.
The (lack of) ethics of a small part of the media has produced a backlash which put me in mind of the Dangerous Dogs Act. Celebrities haveparaded have paraded in from front of Leveson (and our television screens) telling of how badly they've been treated - and there have been some others for whom there was a great deal of sympathy. The result is likely to be a muzzled press unable to do what it should do. And we have to remember that the right to a free press has been fought for for centuries - Hume gives brief and very readable accounts of the history. It's interesting to note that John Wilkes remembered for his fight for a free press would have been seen as one of the hacks which society feels the need to 'contain' were he alive today.
Hume makes the point that just about everyone makes the ''says'' that they're in favour of a free press - and then goes on to add ''but...'' and details the way or ways in which this freedom should be limited, at least for other people or in relation to themselves. He argues the need for a cultural shift not just within the press but in the public's attitude ''to'' it. Freedom is absolute - much like 'truth' or 'pregnancy' and it cannot be doled out as someone in authority sees fit. Least of all can you give freedom to the people you like - the better people - and deny it to others.
