Tony Blair’s words of support for civil servants
Tony Blair has delivered the last in his “Our Nation’s Future” lectures and it has launched some debate in the British press and online. It’s easy for me, as a Canadian, to simply overlook the impact of Alastair Campbell’s message machine, the repurcussions from the Hutton Inquiry and the increasingly antagonistic media environment in the United Kingdom.
So I will, because I think Blair makes clear that the increasingly polarised relationship between politicians and the media is having a significant effect on the work of civil servants.
First, I want to point out that Blair introduces the speech on YouTube. That’s unusual - providing “b” roll as a commentator - on your own speech. The total text is available online, as is a video. But here is an important excerpt:
“…The final consequence of all of this is that it is rare today to find balance in the media. Things, people, issues, stories, are all black and white. Life’s usual grey is almost entirely absent. “Some good, some bad”; “some things going right, some going wrong”: these are concepts alien to today’s reporting. It’s a triumph or a disaster. A problem is “a crisis”. A setback is a policy “in tatters”. A criticism, “a savage attack”.
NGOs and pundits know that unless they are prepared to go over the top, they shouldn’t venture out at all. Talk to any public service leader - especially in the NHS or the field of law and order - and they will tell you not that they mind the criticism, but they become totally demoralised by the completely unbalanced nature of it.
It is becoming worse? Again, I would say, yes. In my 10 years, I’ve noticed all these elements evolve with ever greater momentum.
It used to be thought - and I include myself in this - that help was on the horizon. New forms of communication would provide new outlets to by-pass the increasingly shrill tenor of the traditional media. In fact, the new forms can be even more pernicious, less balanced, more intent on the latest conspiracy theory multiplied by five.”
The MediaGuardian’s OrganGrinder blog provides a summary of reaction from British media.
For example, the Guardian’s leader supports my point:
“…Mr Blair’s heartfelt homily deserves a more serious response. His words will have struck a sympathetic chord, not simply among people in public life, frustrated at the way their words and deeds are mediated, but among a broad section of readers and viewers as well…”
More, but from the Times:
“… There has been a democratisation of content but this has come with a hint of the mess of postmodernism. It can lead to a collective stampede that is frequently an unattractive spectacle. The press should be more willing to admit that most politicians enter public life out of a sincere desire to improve the lives of their fellow citizens and that they often have to make decisions with less time and less information than they would wish. None of us is perfect in this respect. …”
