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How tabloids deflected attention from Tory Covid-19 failings Nicholas Jones reports – Pages 4-6 2 | MediaNorth | SPECIAL ISSUE | May 2020

Editorial Tory media strategy: Deny a problem, then deflect blame By Granville Williams save lives’ as ‘feeble’. reports which have appeared in ‘This is a prime minister para- papers like the Sunday Times and Boris Johnson’s long-awaited lysed by indecision,’ he wrote, The Guardian or on BBC’s Pano- plan for dealing with COVID-19, ‘kicking himself for unforced er- rama. outlined last Sunday, was ut- rors, terrified of being blamed for The second is reliance on pli- terly confusing. That is because every new death.’ able newspaper columnists in government ministers, civil serv- the Tory press who, instead of Tory failures ants, advisers and Tory MPs are supporting critical coverage of themselves confused and divided This confusion follows in the the government for its failures, about the next steps. wake of a string of other failures attack such reports as sabotage One group wants a speedy by the government in its han- or unpatriotic. end to the lock-down, and a dling of the COVID-19 crisis. Two Those who thought the series of wildly speculative things are clear now in terms of COVID-19 pandemic would newspaper reports appeared its strategy to deal with the me- neuter this government’s hostil- suggesting Johnson was set to The Metro (11 May) poked fun dia. ity towards journalists who hold announce a much more dramat- at Boris Johnson’s habit of The first is to deny there is ministers to account or question ic lifting of lockdown measures. quoting Greek. any problem, whether with PPE its use of empty phrases and slo- They wanted to push Johnson provision, testing or deaths in gans will be disappointed. We are into adopting their position via service broadcasters, and instead care homes, through the ma- seeing the return of the populist the media. using the in-house team he as- nipulation of statistics and facts. tactic used during the 2019 elec- The anti-lockdown coverage sembled after the election vic- The government has form on tion: spread disinformation to in Tory-supporting papers can tory to produce the film and the this. The team in Downing Street discredit facts. be explained by their proprietors clunky graphics – was not clarity is essentially the same as the one also wanting the government to but confusion. which shaped the Brexit referen- lift restrictions amid concerns Coverage in the papers the dum and the 2019 election cam- Let us know that if people continue to stay at next day was withering. Even paigns. This is the third special issue home then newspaper sales and Murdoch’s mouthpiece the Sun The second is to deflect of MediaNorth on the impact of ad revenue will plummet even had the headline ‘Lockdown’s blame. The public gets blamed COVID-19 on the media. We wel- more. been a terrible mistake’, with for not following its contradic- come your comments. The next What emerged when Johnson columnist Trevor Kavanagh de- tory advice but the media is the issue of MediaNorth will be the spoke – significantly avoiding scribing Boris Johnson’s message main target. The attack takes regular quarterly issue which we the involvement of any public of ‘stay alert, control the virus, two forms: direct challenges to plan to publish in mid-June. Survey shows financial ITV furloughs 800 as impact on journalists ad revenue slumps Two-thirds of UK media 39% said they did not ex- ITV, the UK’s dominant commer- es programmes such as Emmerd- workers have suffered finan- pect work opportunities to im- cial broadcaster, has reported a 7 ale and Coronation Street. cially because of the coronavirus prove for three to six months, per cent fall in revenue as the Carolyn McCall, ITV Chief pandemic, with freelancers the while 16% said they do not ex- Covid-19 pandemic hit demand Executive, said: hardest hit of all, an NUJ survey pect to make a living at all fol- for advertising between January “ITV has taken swift and carried out from 24 April-10 lowing the pandemic. and March and continued into decisive action to manage and May 2020 has found. NUJ general secretary April, with advertising down 42 mitigate the impact of Covid-19, More than 1,200 members Michelle Stanistreet said: “For per cent for the month. by focusing on our people and responded to the survey. 18% of many…it feels like the eye of the In the first week in May their safety, and by continuing to members had lost 80 to 100% of storm, with more pain to come the broadcaster furloughed 15 reduce costs and tightly manage their income and 84% feared the unless meaningful and urgent per cent of its UK workforce, our cashflow and liquidity. We crisis would lead to redundan- intervention is secured to sup- amounting to some 800 employ- are also ensuring that we con- cies at their workplace. A third port our industry and the jour- ees. tinue to inform and entertain thought their income would not nalists and media workers carry- Most were staff in the ITV our viewers and stay close to our improve until 2021. ing out a vital public service.” Studios business, which produc- advertisers.” SPECIAL ISSUE | May 2020 | MediaNorth 3

SAGE report black-out like Stalin’s Russia, says angry professor UK scientists furious over censored report

It began with The Guardian pub- “Personally, I am more be- lishing the names of people on mused than furious,” said the Scientific Advisory Group for Stephen Reicher, a professor of Emergencies (SAGE) followed by social psychology at the Univer- Hugh Laurie. criticism of a lack of transpar- sity of St Andrews. “The greatest ency and a growing demand for asset we have in this crisis is the the minutes of SAGE meetings to trust and adherence of the pub- Will we be published. ‘STALINESQUE’: Large blocks of lic. You want trust? You need to Finally when one report text were blacked out of report. be open with people. This isn’t from 1 April of SP1-B (the open. It is reminiscent of Stalin- ever see SAGE sub-committee providing committee who complained ist Russia. Not a good look.” advice from behavioural scien- about ‘a lack of respect’ and a And while we’re on the sub- Roadkill on tists on how the public might ‘lack of consultation’ over the de- ject of reports, where’s the one respond to lockdown) was pub- cision to redact the document. on Russian interference in UK lished, large blocks of text were One member of the govern- politics which was blocked from the BBC? blanked out. ment’s advisory committee took publication by Boris Johnson in Back in August 2019 the BBC This clumsy action provoked to Twitter to complain of what he the run-up to the recent general announced ‘Award-winning ac- criticism from members of the said was ‘Stalinist’ censorship: election? tor Hugh Laurie will play a Con- servative minister in a major new political thriller for BBC One written by David Hare and pro- duced by The Forge’. Tory MPs slam BBC over This is the plot summary for what the BBC Controller of Drama, Piers Wenger, described Panorama’s ‘shameful bias’ as a ‘brilliantly sharp and funny drama’: A BBC Panorama programme gramme Tory MPs went into Photos: Wikipedia.com “Roadkill is a four-part fic- ‘Has the government failed the attack mode. Andrew Griffith tional thriller about a self-made, NHS?’ broadcast on 27 April ex- said, “The taxpayer-funded BBC forceful and charismatic politi- posed shortages of personal pro- has real questions about its role cian called Peter Laurence (Hugh tective equipment (PPE) among here.” Another, Andrew Holden, Laurie). Peter’s public and pri- healthcare workers. added, “The level of bias being vate life seems to be falling apart The programme reported allowed at a time of national cri- - or rather is being picked apart that the Tories ignored warnings sis is shameful.” by his enemies. As the personal about vital equipment – with The BBC strongly defended revelations spiral, he is shame- no gowns, visors, swabs or body the programme, pointing out lessly untroubled by guilt or re- bags in the government’s stock- that, as NHS trusts discouraged morse, expertly walking a high pile when it was set up in 2009. healthcare workers from discuss- wire between glory and catas- The UK government subse- ing the state of PPE, it wasn’t trophe as he seeks to further his quently ignored warnings from surprising that those willing to Andrew Griffith: “real questions.” own agenda whilst others plot to its own advisers to buy missing speak out were more involved bring him down”. equipment. It meant that the with campaigning around the Who could David Hare have Tory government was woefully NHS. been thinking about? ill-prepared for the coronavirus This in turn led to the Cul- However the BBC DG, Tony outbreak. ture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, Hall ,has announced that cuts of The programme was attacked writing a formal complaint to £125m are needed this year as a by the usual suspects, with the the BBC Director General, Tony result of the increased COVID-19 Daily Mail (29/04/20) alleg- Hall, about ‘a disproportionate expenditure, reduced licence fee ing the programme had been number of those interviewed in income and postponing the 450 ‘infiltrated by the Left’ citing in- the programme’ being linked to BBC News job cuts. He warned terviews with five NHS workers a political party. there were unlikely to be any ‘big who all had Labour links. It’s the old, familiar tactic: new drama commissions’. It’ll be Rather than respond to attack the messenger to under- a great shame if Roadkill is one of the facts presented in the pro- mine the unpalatable message. Oliver Dowden: Formal complaint. the victims of the cuts. 4 | MediaNorth | SPECIAL ISSUE | MAY 2020 Tabloids deflect attention from Tory failings By Nicholas Jones

Rarely has a peacetime Prime Minister struggling with a national emergency been as fortunate as Boris Johnson in being spared the broad sweep of hostile coverage that proved so debilitating to his predecessors. Johnson has been blessed with a personal storyline tailor- made for the popular press – ‘From death to paternity’ (Daily Mail, 30.4.2020) – and Conserv- ative newspapers have remained his stalwart cheerleaders. In the months ahead, as he tries to steer the country out of lockdown, the shielding that he has enjoyed might well be at risk amid the chaos and con- A telling juxtaposition of tradictions that headlines from Tory-supporting have bedevilled tabloid newspapers. the country since the start of the pan- headlines: demic. ‘UK coronavirus death toll Even when the is now the worst in Europe’ government’s fail- (Guardian, 6.5.2020) was in ings in tackling the sharp contrast to ‘Prof lockdown coronavirus pan- broke lockdown to get his trou- demic were glaringly They both took full advantage sers down’ (Sun) and ‘Professor obvious – and should On the day, the UK’s death of the Daily Telegraph’s exclu- Lockdown quits over trysts with have demanded the full focus of rate exceeded that of Italy – and sive and well trailed revelations married lover (Daily Mail). the news media – his ardent ad- there was a dire need for diver- about the personal life of lead- When interviewed on To- mirers in the tabloid press have sionary tactics – there was no ing epidemiologist Professor Neil day on Radio Four (6.5.2020), stood by loyally, resorting to a va- contest when selecting the front- Ferguson. the Telegraph’s associate editor, riety of ploys to deflect attention page splash for the Sun and Daily There could hardly have been Camilla Tominey, defended the and entertain readers. Mail. a more telling juxtaposition of paper’s decision to publish high- SPECIAL ISSUE | May 2020 | MediaNorth 5

Heartwarming storylines that were pushed to the limit.

not only directly involved readers but generated stirring headlines. In the lead-up to the 100th birthday of World War Two vet- eran, Captain Tom Moore, there was blanket coverage of his daily walk to raise money for the NHS. Once he had been hailed a hero by the popular press, his fund-raising appeal snowballed, ly personal information about professor steps down after break- wish to engage and amuse read- and the tabloids had a heart- two visits made to Professor ing rules to meet married lover’, ers, to lift the spirits of a nation warming storyline that could be Ferguson’s home by his girl- she couldn’t resist a nod to the worried and worn down by end- pushed to the limit: friend in late March and early Sun’s front page by reminding lis- less statistics about infection ‘We Salute You’ chorused the April. teners, ‘yes, he has been caught rates, hospital admissions and Sun and Daily Mail (1.5.2020) On being ‘confronted with with his pants down’. mounting death toll. for an RAF display celebrating an the facts’, she said he had ad- Telegraph readers had to turn Johnson and his media advis- appeal that by then had topped mitted an error of judgement, to page seven to find the head- ers have many allies in the news- £32 million. acknowledged the guidance on line ‘UK death toll now highest paper industry and together they The day before the Sun’s front social distancing was unequivo- in Europe’ above 17 paragraphs form a formidable alliance with page – ‘Happy birthdays’ – had cal, and made clear he would be of text. unquestioned expertise in deliv- declared there was ‘Good news standing down from the Scien- Cheerleading for Boris John- ering exclusives and in creating at last for Britain’ (30.4.2020) as tific Advisory Group for Emer- son has continued apace since narratives that build up a mo- Captain Tom reached his cente- gencies (SAGE). his near-death experience and mentum of their own. nary and Johnson’s fiancée Car- Ms Tominey was not chal- release from intensive care, often The Daily Mail backed a char- rie Symonds gave birth to a son. lenged on either the source or sidelining attention from the un- ity to raise money to buy protec- Ms Symonds’ subsequent re- timing of the story, which was folding calamity in abandoned tive overalls and masks for hospi- lease of the first pictures of their published almost a month after care homes and the woeful tals and care homes. The launch baby, which was accompanied by the second visit to his home. record on testing and the supply of its appeal – ‘Mail’s £1m airlift an exclusive interview with the Despite her paper’s more of protective equipment. for NHS heroes’ (29.4.2020) – Prime Minister for the Sun on restrained headline, ‘Lockdown Tabloid editors defend their was the start of a campaign that Sunday, were two astutely timed 6 | MediaNorth | SPECIAL ISSUE | May 2020

news lines that again succeed- Bad news squeezed out for ed in downplaying the govern- headlines about the Prime ment’s failures and deflecting Minister’s expanding family. damaging headlines. The day after The Guardian led on the stark finding that people living in the poorest areas were dying at twice the rate of those in richest areas – ‘UK’s co- rona divide’ (2.5.2020) – much of the Sundays’ coverage was devoted to uplifting stories about the Prime Minister’s expanding family. ‘He’s got daddy’s hair’ (Mail on Sunday, 3.5.2020) was the headline over the first picture of avoided by a Prime Minis- Wilfred Lawrie Nicholas John- me to die’. ter eager and adept at tak- son. Monday’s Sun exploited ing full advantage of a per- The Sun on Sunday used the Johnson’s ‘only interview’ to the sonal and family storyline ‘Bojo baby’ photo in one corner full: ‘Baby gave me will to live’ that has strengthened his of a front page devoted to the (4.5.2020). popularity ratings and that he Nicholas Jones was a BBC Indus- ‘full amazing story’ of Johnson’s Yet another weekend of grim hopes can be exploited still fur- trial and Political Correspondent fight for life: ‘Docs were ready for headlines had been successfully ther in the weeks ahead. for 30 years. Grabbing the Coronavirus agenda By Nicholas Jones One vital ‘fact’ was confirmed casts of fine weather. in this anonymous Downing In pre-empting Monday’s Amid the devastation of the Street briefing: the government House of Commons statement coronavirus crisis and a loom- would be abandoning the ‘Stay with his Sunday televised ad- ing economic catastrophe, Boris Home’ slogan on which it had dress, Johnson went for the mass Johnson and his communica- spent millions of pounds pro- audience – attracting over 27 tion advisers remain wedded to moting through press and televi- million viewers – but again there media routines ill-suited to a na- sion advertising. was mixed messaging. tional emergency. In the Fleet Street terminol- He suggested workers could Deeply entrenched in the ogy of yesteryear, by changing start returning on Monday Downing Street psyche is an ad- the slogan to ‘Stay Alert’, the morning, even before Parliament diction to manipulating the news Downing Street spin doctors had had been informed or any safety agenda, a determination come given the story ample ‘legs’ to advice had been published. what may to trail announce- run with. A combination of confusion ments in advance and grab the Manipulating news is deeply ‘Hurrah! Lockdown Freedom and anger among employers, news agenda. entrenched in the Downing Beckons’ was the bold claim of trade unions and transport un- Instead of the well-timed Street psyche. the Daily Mail (7.5.2020) only to dertakings was par for the course release of clear-cut advice and be bettered by the Sun’s ‘Happy for the media team’s mantra of information, the British public ister’s question time he revealed Monday’ front page. driving the news agenda what- have been left ill-informed and that in a televised broadcast the ever the cost. New freedoms confused by newspaper coverage following Sunday he would an- Johnson and his aides were heavily influenced by Conserva- nounce a roadmap for exiting The new freedoms that were relaxed, safe in the knowledge tive-supporting commentators, lockdown and that the govern- being trailed on the back of the that the bulk of the Conservative columnists and letter writers ment intended to “get going with Prime Minister’s initial steer – Party was on his side and that The pushing the business case for the some of these measures on Mon- unlimited exercise and picnics Guardian’s headline – ‘PM’s lock- fastest possible easing of lock- day”. in the park – were subsequently down release leaves Britain con- down safeguards. After seven weeks of lock- confirmed. fused and divided’ (11.5.2020) Johnson is as much to blame down his bald statement cried But for health authorities and – would be swamped by the as his media team because he out for amplification and his me- police forces – and especially for uplifting coverage of Johnson’s cannot resist drip feeding news dia team – who operate collec- the devolved administrations in tabloid cheerleaders. lines that he knows will delight tively under the catch-all guise Scotland, Wales, and Northern ‘We are going to meet again’ the Tory tabloids but which all of ‘Downing Street/government Ireland – anonymously-sourced (Daily Mail, 12.5.2020) and too often tend to disrupt effec- sources’ – couldn’t resist giving press reports that the ‘Stay Home’ ‘Gran day out’ (Sun) were the tive management of public mes- journalists every encourage- message was being abandoned ‘good news’ front pages that mat- saging. ment to nudge the story along at caused consternation ahead of a tered most of all to the Downing At Wednesday’s Prime Min- breakneck speed. bank holiday weekend and fore- Street spin machine. SPECIAL ISSUE | May 2020 | MediaNorth 7

Tony Harcup considers news coverage of Covid-19 pandemic We don’t just have to wait for a public enquiry As Guardian columnist Marina Hyde observed when the UK government finally began to take coronavirus seriously: “You’ve heard of straight-to-DVD; for far too much of the past month, it has felt as though some with power have been governing in a way we might call straight-to- public-inquiry.” A public inquiry there must eventually be: not just into the current government’s response to Covid-19 but also into what damage Boris Johnson’s predecessors inflicted on the public health and care sectors. However, we are already getting glimpses of the damning evidence virtual- ly every day, thanks to the many journalists who are doing their job of holding power to account. Telling the human stories of those who have died can have a powerful impact. I am not referring to the televised Downing Street briefings altered the way it counted Cov- When a newspaper splashes with crisis without our news industry, at which ministers blather non- id-19 tests to allow health sec- the faces of victims, as both the notwithstanding its many faults. answers, but to many examples retary Matt Hancock to claim to Mirror and The Guardian have News is often described as the of diligent reporting, such as: have hit his 100,000-a-day target done, for example, it turns the first draft of history. Perhaps, in l The Sunday Times charting by the end of April; dry numbers given at the govern- this case, it is also the first draft the 38 days ‘when Britain sleep- l The Financial Times’ eco- ment briefings into real lives. of the public inquiry. walked into disaster’, during nomics editor Chris Giles regu- Human stories which time the Prime Minister larly crunching the grim num- skipped no fewer than five emer- bers to give a more realistic tally That’s what journalists do, as gency Cobra meetings; of Covid-19 deaths in the UK; the Yorkshire Post’s Susie Beever l Guardian journalists pro- l Channel 4 News consist- pointed out when tweeting an ducing a string of disturbing ently reporting in-depth and at image of her newspaper’s ‘Hu- revelations, including the pres- the top of its bulletins on the man stories behind the crisis’ ence of Johnson’s non-scientific crisis in care homes, the scanda- page, adding: “I worked over adviser Dominic Cummings at lous shortage of effective per- three hours last night to ensure meetings of the official scientific sonal protective equipment and this was the best it could be, and advisory group SAGE, and the the disproportionate death toll that it didn’t go to print with mis- secret Exercise Cygnus report among members of black and spellings of names or wrongly- which warned three years ago ethnic minority communities; placed pictures. Hopefully, I did how ill-prepared the UK was for l Local and regional radio, it justice. But it’s not about me, a pandemic; TV, print and online media in- it’s about the people and families l The Huffington Post report- forming communities about de- affected by this awful virus.” Tony Harcup teaches journal- ing on working conditions at a velopments close to home, from Telling such human stories is ism at Sheffield University and giant Asos warehouse in South closed cafes delivering free meals as much a point of the news as is is author of What’s the Point of Yorkshire, where staff complai- to NHS staff to warnings about telling us what those in positions News? (Palgrave Macmillan, ned of profit being put before anti-social behaviour in particu- of power get up to. Certainly, 2020). Readers of MediaN- safety due to difficulties in main- lar locations. there has also been far too much orth can get 20% off with the taining the recommended two- News matters; not just what is ill-informed, triumphalist and code THARCUP2020 at: ht- metres of physical distancing; reported, but how it is presented, frankly embarrassing coverage in tps://www.palgrave.com/gb/ l The Health Service Journal how much context is provided parts of the media, but we would book/9783030399467 (alterna- revealing how the government and whose voices we get to hear. know an awful lot less about this tively, ask your library to order it). 8 | MediaNorth | SPECIAL ISSUE | May 2020 Art: Ralph Underhill / The Canary Art: Reasons to be hopeful Part 1: social media By Tim Gopsill dared raise them: • The lack of testing at UK On May 10 Boris Johnson re- airports while thousands flew in launched class war. That’s what from countries with major covid the Financial Times and the Mir- outbreaks ror said as manual workers were • Government’s blatant lies told to go back without proper about the way it dropped out protection, while the middle from the EU medical equipment outsourcing of the NHS Supply There have always been radi- class are safe at home. All the rest scheme Chain to Unipart, the former mo- cal sources of alternative infor- of them had to face the fact that • The value of face coverings tor industry supplier. A google mation and politics, but they the government had thrown the as protection search reveals no reference to Un- never before reached millions. biggest risks of covid-19 onto the • The importance of the viral ipart and the NHS in any main- The mainstream have had to run poorest-paid people. Johnson has load in becoming infected stream publication this year. Plus to catch up. managed to turn the best possible • The fiddled figures on- fa the giant management contactors Public opinion has likewise start – the reluctant covid hero talities; there are in fact official such as Serco and Deloitte wreck- moved miles ahead of them. The who faced down death for his sources for more reliable fig- ing the testing programmes. reviled Piers Morgan has become people – to catastrophe. ures, from the Office of National • And the fact that the dread- a national hero on social media But he couldn’t have done it Statistics (ONS). The Financial ed lockdown, which the papers with his fierce denunciations of without social media. This is one Times uses these for its running sought to undermine and get lift- Tory indolence; on the day he of the pluses among a pile of neg- tally – its total on May 13 was ed at every opportunity, wasn’t a ranted at Dominic Raab, Good atives. During these two months 60,000, just short of double the lockdown at all, compared with Morning Britain had its highest the sharing and messaging plat- government’s – and other media what other European states im- ever audience. forms have been teeming with are aware of it; the BBC has re- posed. Tame questions facts and commentary at odds ported the ONS figures and then Much of the material came with the mainstream narrative. reverted to the government’s from doctors and scientists – in- Eyes are opening on how nation- This in itself is a challenge to fake figures in headline and bul- dependent ones, not those hired al media work. The most perti- the given perspective. There are letins! by government to take the blame nent information to be gleaned continual accusations that social • The catastrophic effects of for the consequences of their from the excruciating press media are a pack of lies, crawling NHS privatisation, notably the compromised advice. conferences at Downing Street with malign falsehoods planted by every afternoon is the chummy foreign dictatorships and the rav- The stark manner they are conducted: the ings of cranks, fascists and worse. evidence of first-name-terms relationships The tiresome “fake news” tabloid front and the tame questions posed in hype has been propagated by pages which fake-assertive tones. governments and corporate distracted from On the day after the BBC’s media for years, not to alert the the bad news hard-hitting Panorama pro- citizens to danger but basically to gramme on the government’s discredit everything on the inter- unpreparedness, the BBC’s own net, their commercial rivals. It is health correspondent Hugh Pym a mechanism to nullify alterna- asked not a single tough ques- tive voices, but those voices are tion about its content; instead getting stronger. he asked Matt Hancock, could he “give assurances that PPE will be Major stories available when needed”. These are some of the major You bet he could. The relief stories that have circulated and was visible on the Health Sec- debated online sometimes for retary’s face. He leapt instead at weeks before commercial media the opportunity to bash the programme, and Pym declined to defend it. SPECIAL ISSUE | May 2020 | MediaNorth 9 Photo: Wikimedia Reasons to be hopeful Part 2: unions return By Tim Gopsill Doyle. Unions have ‘broken the generational divide’, she said, TUC leader, Frances O’Grady, has become a national figure in the For the first time in decades, with young workers, especially media trade unions have risen to the women, overcoming old preju- top of the media agenda. This is dices to sign up. She said they had seen a big to work were referred on to un- largely thanks to Boris Johnson’s Union leaders are back in at rise in media enquiries. Many ion press offices. “I have never irresponsibility: in driving the re- national level, called into Down- of these were requests to find known that before,” she said. turn to work without protection ing Street to negotiate safety individual workers for interview TUC leader Frances O’Grady he put workers’ rights at the top conditions and given time on on particular employment mat- has become a national figure, and of the political agenda. national media to put their case. ters such as health protection, even non-TUC syndicalist unions But workers had got there Johnson made concessions on his but more important to her were like the International Workers of first. The uncertainty and the original plans – not enough, but those asking about the union’s Great Britain are getting airtime. threat of job losses had already he did - after talking to Unite’s work. “After all, that is what peo- The IWGB led BBC bulletins with led to a surge in union member- Len McCluskey. “They had to lis- ple want to know.” its demands for legal parity on ships: Unite has put on ‘tens of ten to us,” said Pauline Doyle. “It She added that government health and safety for casual gig thousands’ according to its Head took Theresa May three years to departments contacted by jour- economy workers with those of Communications, Pauline contact us over Brexit.” nalists for stories on the return employed full time.

Confused yet? You will be! Media North This issue went online By Sue Williams simple, mostly understand- being 219,183) thus exposing on 15 May, 2020 able 5 level alert system by which the full idiocy of this equation. The Prime Minister’s speech to progress can be measured was ac- In this extraordinary time we Editor: Granville Williams the nation on Sunday 10 May ceptable. He should have left it at need more than ever to be able to outlining the ‘the first careful that. trust our leaders to take sensible Design and Production: steps to modify measures’ was But sadly he didn’t. He went decisions in a timely manner and Tony Sutton, dishonest, worrying and confus- on to introduce this: to clearly signal how we can all www.coldtype.net ing. Even his MPs were confused, play our part in making things with media appearances by Do- better. Instead, after Sunday’s If you would like to receive future minic Raab and Andrew Bridgen blather, I was left feeling con- copies of the online version revealing how little they knew of fused and anxious and in a far of MediaNorth contact us at the new rules, and embarrassing- worse position than I had been at [email protected]. ly finding themselves contradict- 6.59pm – along, no doubt, with ing their great leader. It can’t be all those people who were left MediaNorth is published quarterly, easy to devise a simple message wondering whether to set their and we welcome comments or that encapsulates what is a com- -where he seems to have forgot- alarm clocks for work that night. plicated way forward. But surely ten that ‘R’ is actually the repro- Is there any wonder that Bojo suggestions for articles. the Government has had ample duction number, not the infec- and his much-trumpeted speech time to come up with something tion rate, and is itself worked out have been the brunt of so much Become a friend on Facebook better than the major mash-up by looking at the number of new heavy criticism and ridicule? at: Campaign for Press and that Johnson presented us with. infections. One message was clear - we Broadcasting Freedom North. And then there were the The FT bravely took on the need to ‘stay alert’. And I agree Twitter: @campaign_and slides, proof that the time Boris maths and found the answer is - we must stay alert to the lies spent with his IT guru, Ms Arcuri, around 219,183.7 (R being cur- that are endlessly being spun and Website: www.coldtype.net/ had not been wasted! rently between 0.5 and 0.9, and then hold the Government to ac- MediaNorth.html The first, showing the new confirmed cases in the UK to date count. 10 | MediaNorth | SPECIAL ISSUE | May 2020 And along came an app

By Gary Herman mentary Human Rights Commit- tee on 4 May that her office ‘was After all the self-congratulato- Big questions about not signing off on an app’. ry posturing, the UK appears to According to IT journal The have among the worst Covid-19 privacy and reliability Register, once uploaded to the outcomes in Europe. And now NHS database personal data can- our leaders are going hi-tech ently, more than 55,000 Island- metres, but in practice may only not be deleted. The Register also in order to redeem themselves ers had downloaded it. Local Tory work over 10 metres. Contact notes that the pseudonymisation from their failure to do proper, MP Bob Seely decided that the tracing may turn out to be a tech- of personal data intended to un- human-based tracing and isolat- app was even more important nological non-starter. derwrite privacy has proved to be ing. They’re testing an app! than lifting lockdown. “On the unsafe. Privacy and security But this contact-tracing app Island we all still need to down- Security concerns may have seems to be another failure in load the app,” said Seely, “so that Perhaps more significant will be led to Robert Jenrick’s surprise the making. we can lead the country.” the issues of privacy and securi- admission that maybe the NHS At the beginning of May, the Despite this, Covid-19 cases ty. The app (developed under the would need to think again about app began a trial in the Isle of continue to rise on the Island and aegis of NHSX, the UK’s new cen- the app. But why? Wight. The plan was to roll it out a rough calculation suggests that tral digital unit for the NHS) al- Well, Matthew Gould, who across the UK where it would 55,000 is about the size of the lows users to upload contact data runs NHSX, used to work with help win the war against the vi- working age population there. to an NHS database. The data is Matt Hancock at the Department rus. But despite the usual devi- The main targets for the app are stored centrally, not, as with all for Digital, Culture, Media and ous Tory tub-thumping, the app ‘key workers’ who number about other significant tracing apps, on Sport (DCMS), where the two of is probably doomed to failure. 12,000 people, which leaves each user’s phone. The decen- them seem to have hatched plans Within days of the trial begin- something about the app or the tralised model used by Google for a digital revolution. ning, the Communities Secretary numbers smelling bad. and Apple and by the EU’s Pan- At the Tory party conference Robert Jenrick suggested that the This is only the beginning of European Privacy-Preserving in 2018, a few weeks after Han- app might need a rethink. “If we its problems. Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT) cock had moved from DCMS need to change our app,” Jenrick The app relies on the short consortium is becoming a stand- to Health, he said, “One of the told Andrew Marr less than a range communications technol- ard, and the UK’s resolutely non- major reforms we need to see is week after the launch of the pi- ogy called BlueTooth to commu- standard approach undermines a bringing new technology across lot, “we will.” nicate between mobile phones. declared goal of ‘tracing infection the health and care system.” He If Jenrick expressed doubt, The app uses a low-energy ver- chains across national borders’. and his old pal from DCMS might others began talking up the app. sion of BlueTooth, BLE, to save The British app will not work have been waiting for Coronavi- Geraint Lewis, NHS England’s batteries, but it is a relatively abroad. All part of getting Brexit rus. chief data officer and a great be- new technology and may not be done, no doubt. Before lockdown, Gould told liever in exploiting patient data, included in older smartphones. The UK’s Information Com- an audience of health technolo- told the Isle of Wight County Neither is BLE the easiest tech- missioner, Elizabeth Denham, gists that Coronavirus was a top Press that he was ‘overwhelmed’ nology to get working, or the has expressed disquiet over the priority ‘and will be the first call by the Island’s response to the most reliable, or the most secure. centralisation of personal data, on everything we do’. And along app. In less than a week, appar- It has a maximum range of 100 and told a meeting of the Parlia- came an app. It’s time to buy It’s the Media, Stupid! It’s the Media, Stupid! The Media, the 2019 Election and the Aftermath is now on sale. Sincere thanks to Steve Bell, The Guardian cartoonist, for the pungent cover cartoon. Obviously plans for book launches are now on hold. So we will be relying on people buying the book directly from CPBF(North). Here’s how you can do it: • Send a cheque for £11.50 inc P&P, with your name and address, to CPBF(North) 24 Tower Avenue Upton near Pontefract West Yorkshire WF9 1EE • Or you can use BACS to transfer £11.50 to CPBF (North) Sort code 08-92-99 a/c No 65796090. Remember to email [email protected] with your name and address.