The quality and independence of British journalism

Abstract

There is no shortage of comment about the state of British journalism. Critics point to the increasing role of public relations in shaping news output and financial constraints on the freedom of journalists to report accurately and independently. What is invariably lacking, however, is any serious empirical research on the subject. Our report aims to fill this gap. Our study is based on a number of parallel investigations. We looked at the number of journalists employed in the national press over the last two decades and the volume of work they are required to do. We studied the domestic news content at the ‘top end’ of British press and broadcast news in order to establish the extent to which journalists depend on public relations and other media (especially wire services), as well as the presence of information indicating robust journalistic practices. We carried out case studies to paint a picture of the role played by PR, other media and the wire services in shaping news content. We tested the ‘news value’ of PR inspired stories with a panel of experts, and we asked a number of journalists and PR professionals to tell us how their working environment has changed.

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