It was in 1992 that I first starting writing for Media Guardian. At the time I recall referring to myself as a press columnist. Years later, and I can’t remember how it came about, people like me were given the appellation “media commentator”.
I think it’s an understatement to say that media commentating is not widely appreciated by newspaper owners and editors. They can’t abide being subjected to the same kind of journalism they practise themselves.
Many journalists share a similar prejudice against those who dare to report on and criticise the fourth estate from within the fourth estate, viewing it as a form of treason.
In the latest issue of the British Journalism Review (BJR), I have written about this sad truth by quoting the catchphrase of Lance-Corporal Jones in Dad’s Army: “They don’t like it up ’em”.
However critical I am of editors, however opinionated and one-sided, however belligerent and sarcastic, my articles are nowhere near as rude, unfair and intrusive as those that are published daily in newspapers.
I simply treat newspaper practitioners and their output to the same kind of scrutiny that they deem appropriate for, say, politicians or celebrities. Like them, I hit hard. Unlike them, I don’t respond to personal attacks.
So my BJR article is the first time I’ve pointed out that most owners and editors (and far too many journalists) are thin-skinned hypocrites. Please read it here and, sort of, enjoy!
