For over 25 years, perhaps dating back to News International’s acquisition of The Times in 1981, two distinct sensibilities have been competing for authority and attention in Britain: the enlightenment state, and the republic of entertainment. The former reigns in the quality press, the civil service, the judiciary, science, medicine and, to some extent, the church and the military. The latter is most commonly embodied by the mainstream media, but is increasingly apparent in politics and other spheres.
In the enlightenment state, reason triumphs over emotion, experts matter, elected politicians are legitimate, facts are the enemy of cynicism, means are often as important as ends, and the innocent remain so until convicted. In the republic, feelings take precedence, experts are treated with caution (if not contempt), politicians are in-it-for-themselves, cynicism is sophisticated; ends justify means, and people are generally guilty until proved innocent.
This tension looks, at first glance, like an old conflict between public and private, or between upstarts like Rupert Murdoch and the liberal establishment. But it isn’t just that. Instead, we are increasingly divided over two sets of principles: about what really matters in the world, and how it should be reported.
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