Has British TV Mixed Up Its Genres on Blair Coverage?

Posted on September 8, 2006
Filed Under What's New, Error and bias |

Over in the UK the speculation is rampant about an early departure for Prime Minister Tony Blair. Not only is the speculation rampant, it is proactive.

The news media seem intent on levering him out of office.These were the sub-heads in one English newspaper: “Tony Blair to Leave on May 31st”, “Who is Plotting Blair’s” Downfall”; “If Labour Can’t Get Rid of Him Now It Will Soon be Time for the Men in White Coats.”

The overnight TV coverage Wednesday, amazingly, focused on Blair’s problems being a result of a long summer. Politicians are bored. So are newspaper editors and their summer circulation figures are low.

The ousting of a Prime Minister is going to be great for sales. And British people might also be bored. So bored that they are allowing the governance of their country to become a reality TV event. Blair’s every move right now is tracked by TV cameras that are reducing the highest political office to the status of a Big Brother house mate.

The cameras are focused on his face and his posture looking for emotional cracks and the studios are filled with observers dissecting his appearance to try to get at what’s going on in his head, and his heart. No question, it is fun.

You don’t have to fly a flag for Tony Blair though to argue that boredom is no reason to allow political coverage to imitate reality TV.

But there are additional issues at stake.

Blair, famously, has an agreement with his number two Gordon Brown that he will step down and allow the latter to become Prime Minister. With a resurgent opposition in the UK Parliament there’s a fear that a reduced reputation for Blair might rub off on Brown and cost their Party the next general election.

You can’t help feeling that most of what’s going on in British politics is informed by emotionally engineered TV programming rather than ethics. Surely British people don’t accept that the Prime Minister’s office is something that two guys do a deal over? And then honor?

The problem is not only that coverage of these events looks like reality TV and it also reads like problem page journalism. Will he keep his promise? Can I trust him to honor his word?Can you wait for the YouTube upload? Am I alone in thinking uuggh?


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