Iom Newspapers' New Editor?

[Xpert]

I'm fed up of repeating the truth of the matter, which is that EVERYTHING is reported here that would be reported anywhere else. But the media is bound by pretty exacting legal and regulatory constraints, so you can't report rumour, supposition or innuendo (which Manx people excel at).

 

I don't for a second expect exposing investigative journalism. What I would like to see more of is comment, opinion both from the manx population and the journalists. Manx Radio's pretty good in this regard, I did the end2end this weekend, and there was a manx radio guy at the finish line, who was chatting with the finishers, getting their thoughts asking them how they did etc. Contrast that to much of the papers coverage of such things (although Fridays indy will might just prove me wrong!) but they'll have a note from the organisers with some results stashed below, and that's it. Swampy was there, taking pix for the rag but why no journo doing the same thing as the MR guys?

 

 

Now sadly this aspect of MR doesn't come over to the web, which is a shame, because I think MR is way ahead of the newspapers in this regard generally.

 

That's funny because I did the End2End cycling and there was no one there from any of the radio stations at the finish line. Why MR were at one sporting event and not the other only they can answer that. There was a TV camera there though.

[Dr Gonzo]

But IOM newspapers is a business that depends on advertising - why would you piss off one of your biggest advertisers with investigative journalism? Biting the hand that feeds you... Same goes for a radio station partly funded by the government.

 

Ah, another halfwit with the same argument. Look - the government HAS to advertise with the papers, whether they piss them off or not. Piss off your biggest advertiser in a place where there's a competing newspaper, you're in trouble. Here on the Island, you could piss all over MHKs, civil servants and their dogs and they'd STILL advertise with the newspaper because they're legally obliged to do so.

 

Yet again, someone with a bigger mouth than a brain opens it to spew uninformed nonsense about an industry they know nothing about...

[%age]

I'm fed up of repeating the truth of the matter, which is that EVERYTHING is reported here that would be reported anywhere else.

 

Spend a few days in the Courthouse for a start. Forget the criminal crap and try delving into the Manx Civil litigation.

 

What really goes on there is not made public. Unlike most places in the World but certainly the UK, the Isle of Man does not make public its court hearings, it produces no Court Lists (only to advocates and those in-the-know). Even those on the court lists are told, if they request an order of court, metaphorically, to fuck-off.

 

There are a number of recent civil actions which have seen local Manx families shafted and shit on by greedy powerful establishment figures covering their own fat - and thin - arses.

 

Oh for a pair of Stu Peters' et al, rose tinted spectacles.

 

They must be as thick as those welding goggles I used to use.

[Skeddan]

Stu - 'everything' might be reported, but there is an issue with the depth of reporting which often appears as a gloss of a press release. Tough tenacious questioning does seem to be lacking. One main newspaper group and state owned media isn't ideal, and a healthy 'fourth estate' is important.

 

Media ownership and control is one of the measures in The Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index rating system. IoM doesn't fare so well on the rating for a free print media and free electronic media:

 

Pluralistic, but state-controlled media are heavily favoured. One or two private owners dominate the media

 

Insisting MR and IoM Newspaper's report 'EVERYTHING' ain't going to change that.

 

There is however a serious practical question of what to do about this.

 

Good quality current affairs and investigative reporting isn't necessarily best suited to newspapers. Television can be a much more effective medium in many ways. Programmes such as BBC's Panorama, Newsnight, Daily Politics Show, and Inside Out can often serve better to cover and investigate issues.

 

Ha Ha. The idea of there being such coverage in IoM!

 

Why not? In fact this is what the BBC are already required to do under their Charter. This states that:

 

IoM should be meaningfully represented in BBC Programming;

that the BBC has a duty to inform and educate re IoM

that the BBC has a role for citizenship in IoM (i.e. current affairs, politics etc.)

that the BBC should 'bring IoM to the world'

and that the BBC does this on television, radio, and its online activities (all three)

and a suitable proportion of content is made in IoM.

 

This is already a requirement in the BBC Charter, and people in IoM pay TV licence fee. There's every reason why BBC should have an IoM TV Station, Radio Station, and provide quality coverage of IoM, including current affairs and investigative reporting - it's a Charter obligation, and one they have to carry out even if it costs a great deal more than they collect from IoM in licence fees. It wouldn't cost the Manx taxpayer a penny more - in fact it would bring considerable economic benefit through local production.

 

Some might laugh and say there's nothing of interest worth covering (leaving aside MEA, runway extension, fisheries, dangerous dogs, Tynwald debates, CTA changes, the Chronicles, visit by Scots minister, and a few dozen other things that one can think of). Jersey have a BBC TV station.

 

Getting on the case of the BBC Trust to pull it's socks up and fulfil it's Charter obligations to IoM could be a way forward to a practical and economic solution for the kind of media that people have a right to expect - with tough tenacious questioning, comment, opinion and analysis, in depth current affairs and investigative reporting.

 

First question is why have IoMG not taken up this issue? (is it a case of oversight, negligence or because it is like expecting turkeys to arrange their own roasting at Christmas?)

 

Second question - Stu can you explain why media ownership and the BBC's Charter obligations to IoM haven't been given any coverage by MR and IoM Newspapers? Is it because there hasn't been a press release?

[spermann]

I'm fed up of repeating the truth of the matter, which is that EVERYTHING is reported here that would be reported anywhere else. But the media is bound by pretty exacting legal and regulatory constraints, so you can't report rumour, supposition or innuendo (which Manx people excel at).

 

Paying a specialist investigative reporter to spend months undercover digging through rubbish just wouldn't work here - the Island is a close-knit community where everybody knows everyone else (or their relatives or friends) so you probably wouldn't be undercover for very long.

 

I take your point over the investigative journalism.

 

However (to probably put your back up even further) we haven't got anyone who asks the Island's politicians tough questions and has the tenacity to get results. Paxman or Humphreys style questioning, rather than, what we usually get which is more along the lines of David Frost or Michael Parkinson, a jovial chat.

 

What I don't want to hear is a politician who makes a (usually long and pre-concocted) statement, avoiding the difficult bits he doesn't want to talk about and then the interviewer leaving the statement unchallenged. But all too often that's what we get.

 

The one thing we don't seem to see on this island at all is accountability.

 

Totally agree - David Callister was good but he is a political member now! Come on Stu, show us that you have some balls and ask the awkward questions next time...

[matty]

I for one hope he can make a difference, we need one. We have an Island of diversity where much that goes on is not reported, we have an Ilsand where some think corruption is endemic but we have no investigative journalism.

 

Any editor worth his salt would have had a Polish page, South African page and run much better reports on the political and economic scandals of the last decade

 

I just hope that he won't be seen as and indeed belong to the esatblishment what with daddy an MLC and uncle First Deemster and Deputy Governor

 

With those credentials perhpas he will know he has to prove his independence and work hard to put us in the picture

 

Wasn't his daddy hired to snoop around someone who was doing what investigative journalists should do (reporting on political & economic scandals)????

 

He'll have to go a very long way not to be seen as part of the establishment!!

[P.K.]

So telling the truth isn't always beneficial to society?

Of course it isn't. Not always. And from some of your posts in the past I would expect you to understand that better than most!

A civil case does not come under the Official Secrets Act. We are talking here about an ex-CM and his fraudster wife. If you don't want to be in the public eye then don't take public office - simple as. Because of the circumstances surely it is better that the populace at large knows that not only justice has been done but it should be seen to be done. Otherwise who is ever going to trust a politician?

 

I don't see any reason for continued vindictiveness towards a family that's probably been to Hell and back in recent times. That may be the kind of reporting required from a scurrilous red-top daily, but it wouldn't endear the local press to me.

Well I'm with you on that one. Poor Will Kelly of GC Construction has been very ill and continues to be so, probably due to the protracted nature of the legal wrangling. You have to feel sorry for the poor man who claims he has been out of pocket due to Ballacain for several years now as he didn't get paid, that's for sure

 

Anyway, how does one find out the civil case schedule? After all, it shouldn't be a secret now should it...

[Katman]

OK Stu if all that is true why hasn't there been any news on the Corkill v GC Construction civil case? It MUST have taken place by now. But in the fearless independent manx media - nary a peep.

 

Don't think it has yet.

[slinkydevil]

But IOM newspapers is a business that depends on advertising - why would you piss off one of your biggest advertisers with investigative journalism? Biting the hand that feeds you... Same goes for a radio station partly funded by the government.

 

Ah, another halfwit with the same argument. Look - the government HAS to advertise with the papers, whether they piss them off or not. Piss off your biggest advertiser in a place where there's a competing newspaper, you're in trouble. Here on the Island, you could piss all over MHKs, civil servants and their dogs and they'd STILL advertise with the newspaper because they're legally obliged to do so.

Yet again, someone with a bigger mouth than a brain opens it to spew uninformed nonsense about an industry they know nothing about...

 

If only you knew...

[Skeddan]

But IOM newspapers is a business that depends on advertising - why would you piss off one of your biggest advertisers with investigative journalism? Biting the hand that feeds you... Same goes for a radio station partly funded by the government.

 

Ah, another halfwit with the same argument. Look - the government HAS to advertise with the papers, whether they piss them off or not ... because they're legally obliged to do so.

So the government are bound by that law and couldn't change it if they wanted to?

 

Out of interest is the amount of advertising the bare minimum taht the government are legally obliged to make, or is there discretionary advertising over and above this? (and if so, how much?)

 

Now can anyone suggest any other creative 'stick and carrot' ways of influencing a newspaper group with an effective monopoly?

 

The best way to answer the cynics and sceptics are examples of IoM Newspapers scorching criticisms of the government and its journalistic triumphs that have ruffled feathers in the Manx politburo - that would show they aren't merely a Manx equivalent of 'Pravda'. As far as I can see from the flak 'the Chief' comes in for from the press - well, I bet Gordon Brown wishes he had it so good.

[triskelion]

Skedden, when he says 'HAS to advertise to the papers,' he is talking about job vacancies, notice of planning permission, road works notifications etc etc. We aren't talking about 'Special deals in the hospital's little shop.' There is not reason the Government would want to change the law on this, unless IoM Newspapers suddenly became embroiled in serious criminal problems, or newspaper circulation dropped to such a level as to render it an unworthwhile medium.

 

Political coverage is fairly minimal on the Island, not least because there is usually almost nothing going on. The most common political story reads:

 

"(Fringe MHK X) (blasts/criticises/accuses) (CoMin member Y) over (Over-blown issue Z)"

 

I can't recall every reading something in the papers that seemed unreasonably pro-Government. Your assertion that the best way to prove they were fully independent would be to print very anti-Government pieces is insubstantial, and indeed promotes an unproductive political culture.

 

No one wants a mediaocracy, thanks.

[Skeddan]

I can't recall every reading something in the papers that seemed unreasonably pro-Government. Your assertion that the best way to prove they were fully independent would be to print very anti-Government pieces is insubstantial, and indeed promotes an unproductive political culture.

 

No one wants a mediaocracy, thanks.

A media that holds government to account, which is critical, and not allowing politicians to get away with empty platitudes and puff does not make a 'mediaocracy' - instead it is a vital part of a healthy political culture.

 

The most common political story reads:

 

"(Fringe MHK X) (blasts/criticises/accuses) (CoMin member Y) over (Over-blown issue Z)"

This in some respects highlights the issue. There is no party system. On the one hand you have a Comin block. On the other you have a few 'fringe MHKs' - not an opposition - instead quite often people who are hoping to find favour and make it from the backbenches and into ministerial positions.

 

Now in that situation with a lame tame media whose hard-edged political coverage is the media equivalent of a biscuit dunked in tea, it's hardly surprising that it seems there is 'usually nothing going on'.

 

I'm sure any A level politics student will be able to explain to you how opposition and media play an important role in democracies - indeed are essential as checks and balances. A government that can push through measures without fear of criticism and without really having to take account of anyone's views is fairly sham democracy. You might even get things passed without being debated - with MHKs not even knowing what they are rubber-stamping (it's happened).

 

triskelion, I can't help getting the feeling that your idea of a 'healthy political culture' is one where no one rocks the boat and which sounds a bit like a one happy party state. When you say "no one wants a mediaocracy, thanks" it sounds like what you really mean is "no one wants a democracy, thanks". I'm sure you don't really want to say that, but at times your efforts at boy scout respectability leave one wondering.

 

No one wants a media that makes government more accountable? Speak for yourself.

 

... we haven't got anyone who asks the Island's politicians tough questions and has the tenacity to get results. Paxman or Humphreys style questioning, rather than, what we usually get which is more along the lines of David Frost or Michael Parkinson, a jovial chat.

 

What I don't want to hear is a politician who makes a (usually long and pre-concocted) statement, avoiding the difficult bits he doesn't want to talk about and then the interviewer leaving the statement unchallenged. But all too often that's what we get.

 

The one thing we don't seem to see on this island at all is accountability.

[%age]

Will Kelly of GC Construction has been very ill and continues to be so, probably due to the protracted nature of the legal wrangling. You have to feel sorry for the poor man who claims he has been out of pocket due to Ballacain for several years now as he didn't get paid, that's for sure

 

I understand that it was apparent that Will Kelly had his actual heart attack during his prolonged questioning in the court case. The trial was carried out during am unusually long period of very hot weather. Others in court (ok, apart from Moylesy) were apparently scantily clad for the climate and sucking on their bottles of water accordingly.

 

Will Kelly was in the 'the dock' for a long time under quite some duress and was apparently remarkable in keeping his calm and composure under the circumstances of the Manx Legal System.

 

The air-conditioning in the court house was either 'fucked' (a technical word used by Stuarty Clague's team) or 'highly fucken inadequate' (ditto). It was, I understand quite a fucken disgrace.

[Stu Peters]

JUST supposing that I conceded your point about a lack of objective media criticism (and I won't), surely a programme like Talking Heads gives those of you who condemn US the chance to show off your own debating skills. We've had a senior politician on in one of the 'slots' for the last fortnight, and apart from the odd anonymous email jibe (which I've read out) I've not been aware of any latent Paxmans making me feel incompetent.

 

Maybe if some of you guys had a go at it, you'd realise that it's much easier to criticise the efforts of others than expose your own limitations, conversely if you're good at it you'll maybe show us up and galvanise us into interviewing politicians as a blood sport.

[Jimcalagon]

JUST supposing that I conceded your point about a lack of objective media criticism (and I won't), surely a programme like Talking Heads gives those of you who condemn US the chance to show off your own debating skills. We've had a senior politician on in one of the 'slots' for the last fortnight, and apart from the odd anonymous email jibe (which I've read out) I've not been aware of any latent Paxmans making me feel incompetent.

 

What a daft argument. I don't need to be Pele to recognise a poor footballer.

 

Besides, if you're good at something, never do it for free