Quintin Jardine's blog

I began my working life sixty years ago, as a journalist. I wasn’t very good at it, but I was lucky enough to make the jump from poacher to gamekeeper, where I was more comfortable and successful.

Nevertheless I still think like a journalist. My values are based on those of the sixties, before the rising of the Sun when most newspapers were broadsheet rather than tabloid and truth, as viewed from either side of the fence, was valued above all else.

This morning, I am saddened by what I am reading. Specifically, a Daily Mail report touching on two broadcast incidents. In one, Tom Bradby, a respected broadcaster, is accused of calling Donald Trump a fascist during ITV’s election coverage. He didn’t. He quoted named people who had worked in the first Trump administration, and had used that term. Not only does the Mail distort his words, it portrays him as leading ‘the British liberal meltdown.’

In a subsequent section it refers to Emily Maitlis ‘mysteriously’ leaving C4 coverage, after being rebuked for swearing by her co-host. She didn’t … she attributed the term ‘batshit’ to others … and she wasn’t. She left the studio to record part of a podcast and resumed her role later.

The Nationalist, a fortunately little read publication, went further. It reported that she had been ‘pulled off’ coverage, a total misrepresentation, or to put it another way, a lie.

I know, we live in a different era. Today’s media has evolved beyond what was imaginable even thirty years ago. But surely standards shouldn’t have evolved with it. Surely truth should have remained truth, and respect should be constant.

But it hasn’t. I am now officially a dinosaur. 🦕 My worry is that there is another meteorite on the way. It may hit after I have gone, but it will swallow those I love and who remain.

Here’s what I see as today’s truth. The greatest threat to our society isn’t Trump, or Putin, or crazy Kim. It’s ourselves.