Blair takes on the media 'beasts'

The outgoing British premier Tony Blair has made a speech attacking the UK news media for dragging down standards and hunting in packs like ‘feral beasts’. It is a very good speech that outlines some of the pressures upon the media to deliver ‘impact’ at the cost of objectivity, fairness and intelligence. It rightly points out that new technology and free competition can have a price to be paid in terms of quality. He also acknowledges that his New Labour machine tried to handle the media in a way that has failed to halt that process. It is a speech well worth reading in full.