Today we have many products with an expiration date attached, milk for example. After a couple of days a rotten stench will circulate around your fridge.
Unfortunately, news agendas do not have this luxury especially when it concerns politics. I imagine a news conference in the morning with the editor asking what the most important news of the day is.
For weeks on end PARTYGATE has most definitely come up.
The fact that our Prime Minister and many other political figures were fined due to breaking lockdown laws has our head spinning. Every single day someone somewhere has something to say about partygate.
Recently I watched an interview with Susanna Reid and Boris Johnson on Good Morning Britain’s YouTube channel. Within the first 10 minutes partygate was mentioned, and once again Johnson had to explain his actions.
It is almost like we see partygate as this shiny, captivating object we just can’t let go of. I understand it is one of the biggest scandals involving our politicians, however what about other news?
I think about stories like sending refugees to Rwanda and how this had its moment in the spotlight for maybe a day. What about the Tim Westwood story, which clearly involves many powerful figures? Of course there was outrage, but I am not sure if I’ve seen the conversation moving forward.
This is the problem we have. We decide what is newsworthy and all our time and effort goes to that. Right now for most people it is partygate.
I am not saying we shouldn’t hold those in power to account, we definitely should as the fourth estate. But how do we make sure other important stories are also being talked about?
We are supposed to be reflecting the whole of society, and that means every institution. However, recently the only institution I am hearing about is Parliament.
Frankly there are more pressing matters, and no this doesn’t mean we ignore the actions of politicians it just means we must be balanced.
I would like to hear a little about everything, not a lot about one thing.
