Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Media storm #231

Every few weeks a story emerges that is not particularly big news in itself but somehow seems to whip itself up into a media storm and all the press pick up on it.
This time it seems to be the story about the Conservative Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell swearing and being abusive to police officers because they directed him and his bike to a pedestrian exit gate from Downing Street. The police have to deal with drunks and criminals being abusive to them all the time. When it's a member of the government in a business suit leaving the office though it is rather shocking.
The subsequent attempts to duck and dodge what was said, suggesting confusion over accounts of the incident, the Chief Whip has finally apologised several days later. I watched him apologise on TV and he didn't answer the question about what he said: I guess he just wanted to draw a line under the episode and move on. Well, a paper has published the police account so at least we can see that.
It is just the latest in a series of media storms that seem to be dogging the government. I don't know whether the media is making more of it than it needs to or whether it is just indicative of something wrong with our government.

2 comments:

laura b. said...

Over here, with it being election season, every word every politician says is pounced upon and dissected with glee. Can't wait for it to be over!

FW said...

LB: I did catch some of the commentators analysis after the first round of the TV debates. Romney seems to have come off slightly better than Obama. I don't like election fever, it's all so artificial.