The power of the documentary

The power of the documentary(HT-Paul McNally)

This morning's Telegraph reports that in the wake of the expose on Panorama about Primark's use of child labour in the supply chain,customers have been deserting its stores

According to a poll of more than 1,000 consumers carried out by ICM Research for Drapers magazine, 42pc of people who shop at Primark are now either less likely or a lot less likely to shop at the chain because of the allegations highlighted in Panorama.
Prior to the programme's airing, Primark, owned by Associated British Foods, ditched the south Indian suppliers in question and launched a raft of initiatives to improve auditing and standards in its supply chain.

What the Sunday's are saying on the media

The Sunday Times reports that the BBC

1. "is institutionally biased, an official report will conclude this week. The year-long investigation, commissioned by the BBC, has found the corporation particularly partial in its treatment of single-issue politics such as climate change, poverty, race and religion. "

Adding that there is a

" danger of BBC programmes being undermined by the
liberal culture of its staff, who need to challenge their own assumptions more.
“There is a tendency to ‘group think’ with too many staff inhabiting a shared
space and comfort zone,”

Of cause the fallout from Blair's comments on the feral press continues,the Mail on Sunday speculates that

"

that the hidden hand of Campbell, his former
speech writer, was at work. "adding the

"speech contains amazing similarities to remarks by
Campbell on the same subject just eight months ago

. "

Incidently John Rentoul in the Sindy says

"Not mentioned once in the speech was the Daily Mail,
which is loathed by Blair, his wife and his former press secretary. Blair once
said to John Lloyd, whose Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
co-hosted Tuesday's speech: "The Daily Mail is an extraordinary product. It
springs from the head of Paul Dacre, who has the kind of prejudices and beliefs
no one knows about. I won't go into them. But he is accountable to no one. He
has absolute and unaccountable power."

Andrew Gilligan writing in the Observer speculates

" whether he actually reads his own speeches before he delivers them"

For Gilligan

"

if the power of the media to shape events is limited, the
power of governments, even discredited ones, to do so is huge. We have laptops
and expense accounts; they have the army, navy and air force. When Mr Blair
calls for more 'ordinary reporting', I suspect he means newspapers filled with
whatever launches or announcements the government has decided shall be news that
day."

Staying with the Observer Peter Preston asks that "Panorama needs to find a slot that fits the crime"

"Nobody - from Jamaican pathologists to the entire
Fleet Street pack - came well out of Bob Woolmer's (ultimately) accidental
death. But one reputation among many looks in particular jeopardy. What happens
when the BBC's flagship hits the rocks"