How Laura Kuenssberg and Robert Peston show up media at Downing Street briefing

WATCHING the interminable 10 Downing Street press conference the other day, and getting frustrated at the inane level of questioning, I was reminded of the 2002 Reith Lectures delivered by Professor Onora O’Neill on the subject of A Question of Trust.

The third lecture was entitled Called to Account and the fifth Licence to Deceive, so you can see why I was so reminded. The Professor regrettably failed to identify any better regulatory processes or systems of checks and interrogation than those currently employed. Perhaps there are no such answers?

The approach of our current batch of journalists is wrong, and their hostile and aggressive questioning just serves to put the interviewees on the defensive and make them evasive.

They should take lessons from Sir David Frost who calmly, and without rancour, managed to get a confession out of President Nixon when all other attempts had failed. His Sunday morning BBC discussion programme was a weekly delight. Andrew Marr would do well to take lessons from these.

Laura Kuenssberg, Robert Peston, Hugh Pym and co continue to seek guarantees from Ministers and impose arbitrary targets on them in these ‘never before experienced days’. They are reminiscent of Jeremy Corbyn at his worst.

Sir Keir Starmer made a better start last Wednesday, and Tom Bradby and Adam Boulton are currently the best inquisitors.

Perhaps university media courses should be re-configuered to include more of these techn-iques, and academia should seek to find better methods of accountability.

From: David Pearson, Harrogate.

IN the media, there is an obsession with statistics. Picking over minutiae serves no purpose. The scale of the task vastly surpasses anything since World War Two.

We are embroiled in a global human tragedy no country was prepared for.

You could say the world was complacent.

We have no more right to procurement of essential supplies than any country.

Our political leaders have mountains to climb to guide us through this and to rebuild the world community. I am sure we will all want to play our part.

There is so much sorrow and sadness for those who have lost their lives. Our hearts go out to their families. I hope they can find peace with the beautiful memories they have of their loved ones.

Sadly, as with all pandemics, there will be many, many poignant stories of victims.

Let’s share our love with each other and keep strong.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

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Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor