2011 was a year which began with the press near unanimous in its outrage over anonymised super-injunctions which were being used to guard the secrets of the rich and famous.
It has ended with the journalism industry firmly on the back foot: under attack at the Leveson Inquiry, hit by yet more closures and redundancies and facing an uncertain 2012.
The reputation of the whole British press has been dragged through the mud at Leveson – which is a shame, because the vast majority of journalists are decent people doing a worthwhile job for not a huge amount of money.
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As part of an effort to ensure that Lord Justice Leveson sees the good – as well as the bad – in British journalism, Press Gazette publishes a 12-page report in our January edition on journalism as a force for good as part of our “Proud to be a Journalist” campaign.
Here’s my six of the best from the January edition:
A New Year’s message of good cheer from Sir Harold Evans:
“If I were 16 again, and knowing what I know now, I’d certainly write the letters I did asking for newspaper work, and jump at any chance to be a journalist.
“There’s never been more need to explore, explain and expose. You have a licence to ask questions that affect the wellbeing of hundreds, thousands, maybe millions. Hand on heart, I assert it is as fulfilling to work for the public good as it is degrading to hack phones.”
100 reasons for being Proud to be a Journalist:
We publish the top messages from journalists around the country sent as part of Press
Gazette’s #proudtobeajournalist Twitter campaign.
Peter Kirwan investigates the rise of the iPad – two years after its launch:
“Tablets are cannibalising print circulation in a way that websites never did.”
John Dale visits weekly regional newspaper of the year the Essex Chronicle and is inspired by what he finds:
It’s not just the Dacres and Rusbridgers who have to make tricky decisions. Hundreds of journalists do the same every our all over Britain…Looking at the Essex Chronicle it struck me that this fine, decent, energetic local newspaper was a much worthier inheritor of the NoW’s 1950s’ slogan: All Human Life Is There.
Grey Cardigan on Twitter:
No-one is safe from the faux outrage of the liberal Lefties who can blow a minor gaffe up out of all proportion. They are like the villagers storming Frankenstein’s castle, only they’re armed with hashtags and pixels instead of blazing torches and pitchforks.
Exit Interview with former Independent business editor David Prosser:
“There have been a lot of journalists since who have tried to say that they predicted the crisis. But no one can really say they saw this coming and warned their readers about it.”
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