Friday, December 12, 2008

Technology is the servant of journalism, not its master.Discuss

As if the Barclay twins do not have enough on their plates with the problems over Sark,now they have Roy Greenslade to contend with


Day by day, in print - and, especially, online - the Daily Telegraph is desperately trying to be the Daily Mail, but it cannot achieve it because it lacks the political and social passion that drives the Mail (and its readers).
Not that the Barclays show signs of understanding that. They have bought an institution and probably think they have been "modernising" it simply by making a lot of noise about engaging with the digital revolution.
But technology is the servant of journalism, not its master. There is no point in putting yards of editorial on a website merely to attract hits if that material is inimical to the paper's ethos. It undermines a news brand's trust and credibility.
Before it's too late - and maybe, just maybe, it already is - someone needs to explain to the brothers where they are going wrong. Anyone prepared to tell them, I wonder?

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