Blair's attack provokes anger among newspaper editors and broadcasters

Tony Blair's attack on the media and call for a tougher regulatory system for newspapers and broadcasters sparked a heated debate last night among editors and other key figures within the industry.

The Prime Minister singled out The Independent for criticism when he devoted his last speech on domestic issues before he stands down on 27 June to the media, which he described as a "feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits".

That, along with calls for a debate about political coverage and criticism of what he views as the fusion of comment and news provoked an immediate and strong reaction.

Bob Satchwell, the director of the Society of Editors, said: "All newspapers have always commented as well as reported and he seems to be pointing to some golden age that never really existed. The reason why the UK media is so rich and vibrant and that The Independent is so powerful within it is that it takes a slightly unusual approach."

Others, such as Roger Alton, the editor of The Observer, took a positive view of much of what the Prime Minister had to say, describing it as "spot on". He added, however, that the "bizarre" attack on The Independent was "completely out of order".

Mr Blair, said Alton, "overlooks the fact that the Indy has carried some brilliant straight factual reporting... At least the Indy wears its heart on its sleeve, and assumes its readership is bright enough to distinguish between its trenchantly expressed views and its news reports," he went on.

Broadcasters too were animated about the Prime Minister's parting shot. Adam Boulton, the political editor of Sky News, said: "A speech on the media which mentions only the BBC and The Independent can hardly be accused of being very frank. There was nothing about Associated Newspapers and nothing about [Rupert Murdoch's] News Corp. One gets a sense of him letting off steam."

Matthew d'Ancona, the editor of The Spectator, said: "It's slightly bizarre to single out The Independent in the sense that it led the way on compacts and on a particular way of modernising quality journalism, and what's it got to do with Blair?"

On the more general issues raised, Peter Hill, the editor of the Daily Express, said: "It's just sour grapes. He's criticising journalists because they found him out. I'm afraid all that spin is Blair's undoing."

However, there was unwavering support for the Prime Minister from Max Clifford, the publicist. He said: "I would 100 per cent agree with what he said. When I started in PR it was all about promotion, and now my biggest work is protection. I'm not saying that bad cases shouldn't be exposed, but now people are very slow to praise and very anxious to destroy."

In his speech at Reuters' headquarters in London, the Prime Minister made five key criticisms of the media. He argued that scandal and controversy takes precedence over ordinary reporting; attacking people's motives is far more potent than attacking their judgement; the media hunts in a pack; commentary is just as important as news and that there is confusion between comment and news, which should be clearly divisible.

"The metaphor for this genre of modern journalism is The Independent newspaper," he said. "Let me state at the outset that it is a well-edited and lively paper and is absolutely entitled to print what it wants, how it wants, on the Middle East or anything else.

"But it was started as an antidote to the idea of journalism as views not news. That was why it was called The Independent. Today is avowedly a viewspaper not merely a newspaper."

He said the regulatory framework governing the media would need revision at some point. "As the technology blurs the distinction between papers and television, it becomes increasingly irrational to have different systems of accountability based on technology that no longer can be differentiated in the old way," he said.

How to do this was an "open question", and the distinction of balance required of broadcasters but not newspapers remained valid. But he said the press needed to "reassess their own selling point - the distinction between news and comment", adding: "At the moment, we are all being dragged down by the way media and public life interact."

The matter of accountability and regulation was an "open question", he said, and the distinction of balance required of broadcasters but not newspapers remained valid. He admitted that New Labour had contributed to the problem by paying "inordinate attention" to "courting, assuaging and persuading the media", and that he had enjoyed "relatively benign" coverage after winning power in 1997.

Answering questions, the Prime Minister made clear he was not calling for statutory controls but wanted the media to put its own house in order through tougher self-regulation. "If politicians lead this debate, we will lose it," he said.

Ironically, his lecture sparked a row with the media. Downing Street banned broadcasters from screening the questions he answered at the end of the speech after ITV News asked him whether he regretted the way intelligence was used in the run-up to the Iraq war.

The view from the blogosphere

"I think a lot of people who say they agree with Mr Blair's comments are missing the point. He didn't criticise any of Mr Murdoch's press. He criticised The Independent. It's like he is saying all media are feral unless they agree with his policies... And this is the same person that criticised Mr Putin's record on press freedom!"

Abdul Haq, London

"The pace of 24-hour news cycles probably does mean governments have to work harder. Others may, however, detect a note of sour grapes... When he singles out The Independent, soon after comments on the coverage of the Hutton inquiry, it is hard not to think the Prime Minister was not thinking of The Independent's 'Whitewash?' front page on the day following the publication of the report."

Simon Jeffrey (Introduction to Guardian blog)

"A typical Orwellian bliar speech.Being complicit in... the murder of 655,000 Iraqi civilians might have more to do with sapping the country's confidence? But no, bliar thinks its The Independent's fault ... Tony is happy with the tabloids, they keep a decent level of racism, sexism and tell plenty of blatant lies..."

Bev White on Guardian blog

"The Sun, Daily Mail, News of the World, The Mirror amongst others all have a history of bigotry and dishonesty. The BBC, ITN, The Guardian and The Independent are the only ones worthy of trust!"

Stafford, UK; on BBC website

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