Wednesday 26 August 2009

British media: 'Full of boring crap written by the same 50 people'

London-based journalist Heidi Kingstone on Huffington Post takes a critical look at the British media.
"In a country of about 60 million people with endless newspapers, websites and magazines, you end up reading the same 50 people in all of them, dispiriting, monotonous and boring. The class system has changed but here it is still very much who you know, where you went to school or university and if you have famous parents or ancestors (practically going back to the Magna Carta), making for a dull scene.
"Take Sophie Dahl with her big bug eyes staring out of her emaciated vapid face in her piece in Elle Decoration (even there you expect better journalism.) Her grandfather was author Roald Dahl. In one article on food, which is what the talentless resort to in Britain today -- the current version of home ec -- she opines: "My beloved is a musician. Homemade bread, a strong cup of tea and Miles Davis on the stereo makes him a happy fellow of a morning." My beloved? Of a morning? Who writes crap like this? Too many people it seems."
Via Adrian Monck

1 comment:

Russell said...

Heidi certainly makes a few good points. there's a strong argument to say it's not just advertising downturn or online competition but also bland writing that is to blame for the downturn in the fortunes of print media. There are few real surprises for readers in corporate media, which is perhaps why the Telegraph (still a dull paper in my opinion) did so well with expenses claim masterpiece.