Gloomy Monday And Newspapers' Futures

Gloomy Monday

It's said you have to be retired to like Mondays. Well I'm retired but this is certainly not a Monday that I like. It's been raining all day, so no boules and I don't need shopping so I haven't been out. I'm left with my PC, TV, books and my own thoughts and my thoughts have been as gloomy as the weather. Getting my daily “fix” from the AWAD (A Word a Day) site I found the quote for the day was: “Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities” (Voltaire). The absurdity that came immediately to my mind was Brexit. The referendum result was clearly a function of poor control of immigration, for which the EU got the blame. Yet the UK has not been using the controls it has available to it under EU legislation. Who now has to sort out this problem? Theresa May. Who was, since 2010, the Home Office minister responsible for control of immigration? Theresa May. Presumably she wants more controls to be unused.

The other absurdity is the idea of an EU army, which the EU has stated as urgently needed since the election of Trump. Russia is clearly in expansionist mode so something might be needed. I've read comment to the effect that Russia's annexations, actual and potential, relate only to territories with large Russian populations but.….…..…..anyone remember Austria and Anschluss, anyone remember Sudetenland? The Baltic states are deemed to be at risk. Yet which EU countries would be prepared to sacrifice their own defence capability for a joint EU one and which could afford both? And what would the role of an EU army be if one EU state decided to have a go at another? Nationalism is on the rise and, in the words of Francois Mitterand “nationalism means war”.

A gloomy Monday indeed.

The Future Of Newspapers

Yet more gloom, I'm afraid. I've noticed that the Guardian newspaper is asking for donations, stating that it's voice is now needed more than ever. I agree with that and am toying with the idea of donating but wonder what effect a donation of the size I could make would have, even if made by many. Commercial enterprises have essentially to find commercial means of surviving. The problem is advertising revenue which is increasingly being diverted from newspapers to TV, the internet and sponsorships. The Independent has already ceased to publish as a physical newspaper, joining the Huffington Post as a purely electronic but sane form of news. The Telegraph is getting its knickers in a twist trying to reconcile its pro-Brexit stance with its pro-business bias and The Times is Murdoch-owned (as is The Sun) so can't be relied on for anything. How can the gutter press devoted to the post-truth society be couterbalanced?

Some enterprises with a social conscience have indicated that they are withholding advertising from newspapers running racist and fascist/nationalist campaigns. That helps but hardly looks like enough. Popular campaigns aren't enough either. The boycott of The Sun in Liverpool following its Hillshborough lies probably dented its revenues but not enough to make it change its ethos. One measure the government could take, since it is strapped for money, is to impose VAT on newspapers. It would be a reasonable measure as few can claim they offer a service to the public rather than their owners and that would hit the gutter press hardest. It wouldn't help the Guardian though. If “those who can make you believe absurdities” are to be defeated, it seems another way will have to be found.