Opinion: Young UK journalists are deeply uncomfortable with what the coverage of Meghan Markle says about this industry
An unwritten rule of journalism is that we should not ever want to become the story, but this week Prince Harry has put us at the centre of our own attention.
The Duke of Sussex told a story about when he had claimed to a friend that: “The UK is not bigoted, the UK press is bigoted, specifically the tabloids.”
Although Prince Harry’s words were only aimed at sections of the UK press, these words have provoked a bewilderingly direct response by an industry body which purports to represent the full gamut of media professionals
A spokesperson for the Society of Editors said: “The UK media is not bigoted and will not be swayed from its vital role holding the rich and powerful to account following the attack on the press by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.”
Ian Murray, executive director of the SoE, also called on the Duke and Duchess to provide supporting evidence to back up their claims.
I am sure many of you reading this, my colleagues and friends in the industry, totally agree with what the SoE has said and are upset to have been tarnished with this accusation.
It is odd to me that the SoE can so confidently make this claim, as I have personally met few journalists who do not freely admit, at least in private, to having serious concerns about bigotry in the journalism industry.
After working for well over two years at a regional news agency, where we supplied stories to every newspaper, broadcasters and radio stations, it became very clear to me that if you file stories and pictures about someone who is not white British, then they have far less chance of getting published
To begin with you tell yourself there must have been some weakness in the story itself, something which made it less newsworthy, but as you go along dots which formed a line form a clear pattern which is impossible to ignore.
It is not just about race. Try filing copy through the wire about an interviewee who has ever lived rough, is on benefits or has served time in prison. You will see how well it makes and everyone with experience in the industry knows this.
What is not entirely clear is whether this phenomenon occurs because many editors are bigoted or whether those editors simply believe that Brenda from Bristol (the imaginary reader) is bigoted and are trying to cater for her. Either way, the bigotry is allowed to thrive both in terms of what makes it on to the page and through what articles are spiked.
While the search for missing Sarah Everard in south London has rightly received a great deal of press coverage, the search for 20-year-old Joy Morgan in 2019 was comparatively less reported on. Joy’s family believed the lack of coverage was because she was black.
Instead of chucking down some paper thin defences about the UK media, which has long been plagued from without and within by accusations of bigotry, surely it is time for us all to speak out about what is really happening here.
They say that one can develop a dangerously skewed sense of reality by getting your news from Twitter, but one thing the social media platform is quite good at is telling you what journalists think, particularly young ones.
Tell me if I am wrong but it seems to me that a heck of a lot of journalists around my age (27) are really, deeply uncomfortable with the way that Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview is currently being covered.
This is not just about the immense volume of coverage or its hysterical tone, which is at least partly a commercial calculation by the editors who are trying to drive up page views and sell papers, but is also a reaction to the disturbing discussions about race which are being whipped up by this furore.
Far be it for me to do a Piers Morgan and to lecture anyone on what is or is not racist, but a lot of black journalists are currently speaking out about this and if we care for our colleagues in this industry and friends beyond, then we need to listen without our hackles raised.
