On hacking, defending tabloids and the future of them

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Sara Malm

As a journalism student infatuated with tabloids and as an admirer of Rebekah Brooks I will no longer hold my peace. The phone-hacking crisis is devastating for News of the World and News International, and if all the accusations are true it is absolutely disgusting. Sienna Miller and various slebs, reality TV stars and footballers I could live with, laugh at and defend. Murdered schoolgirls, war widows and 7/7 victims I cannot. However, this is an opportunity to clean up our acts and not a day of doom for a major part of commercial journalism.

Last night I had the privilege to attend the NCTJ’s 60th birthday bash and lubricated with champers and cupcakes I mingled my way through many very interesting conversations with industry people and in a few I had to defend myself against men two generations above me while they glanced at my chest.

“What you want to do isn’t journalism. Tabloids isn’t journalism”, I was told by a slightly pompous yet experienced mediamaker by the name of Anon.

‘Dear Sir, your thoughts on journalism is about as progressive as your hairline’… was what I wanted to say. What I did do was smile, nod politely, ‘chin, chin’ my flute and try to argue that there are different sides to journalism. As genius as I think the Independent is – and anyone who saw me jump around the newsroom when The i was first published can back me up on this – it is read by a minority of, mostly well-educated, well informed individuals who take a keen interest in current affairs and politics.

This is not the British population in general. Average Joe Bloggs with a couple of kids and a dwindling marriage reads tabloids. And we can bemoan how much this sucks until the end of time on our high Public Service-horse, or we can face the facts and utilise the tool of tabloids.

I would happily flash my DDelightful god given talents on page 3 if it meant that there was a chance that Joe Bloggs also read page 2 and at least got a hunch of what is going on in Westminster. Which would lead to more informed voters. Which leads to true democracy.

In my opinion journalism is about holding power to account. The gentleman argued that that was not what tabloids did; it was all about celebrities, footballers and their private lives – a comment which was simply laughable, especially from someone with experience in the industry. What are celebrities and footballers if not people with power? Money is power. Reaching out to people and having them listen to your gospel is power. Who do you think has the most impact on ordinary people’s lives in Britain, the tweets of an MP from Berkshire or tweets of Lily Allen? It is terrifyingly narrow-minded to consider only those who roam the halls of Parliament to be people in power.

So, what needs to be done then?

Young tabloiders like me don’t go on to The Sun or NotW online. The website feels outdated and is trying too hard to be the newspaper in an online form. We go to Mail Online, a prime example of online tabloid journalism. My first port of call is not The Daily Mail, I check Mail Online every morning. A teensy nib about a celebrity in the newspaper is headlining the website. Why? Because those who go on the website are born on this side of 1980 and those who read the paper are born on the other side of 1960.

NotW and The Sun has gone online not out of enthusiasm about an new platform to reach consumers but out of necessity, and that is what the website feels like. As outdated as phone hacking (if you want a glimpse into someone’s private life, just check their Twitter and Facebook page – today’s teens are more than happy to pour out their innermost thoughts on the web). The Mail has found a whole new readership through their online publication – and so can The Sun and NotW. In fact, they need to and stat.

Last night I asked a female journalist what to do to be able to afford a house and put my kids in private school. She said “get a rich husband or change career”. Here’s to proving her wrong – cheers to the future of tabloids!

(People in power also includes my ever-so-highly regarded role model Rebekah Brooks and my future employers (I hope and dream) News International. The power within this corporation is immense and should definitely be held to account after the news of hacking has come to light. And to quote another journalist I hold high, Professor Tim Luckhurst: “If she knew about it she will be sacked, and if she didn’t know about it the she will have to resign”. My main worry is that all the good work she has done in tabloid journalism and, with the risk of sounding like a Feminismbible basher, for women in this industry by smashing the glass ceiling and running the most powerful media company in Britain, will be out the window.)