Flat Earth News - the future of journalism?
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Cover of Nick Davies' bestseller Flat Earth News.
Investigative journalist Nick Davies is no stranger to thorny issues. In his latest book, Flat Earth News, Davies turns his critical eye to his own profession.
Davies’ book shows up individual editors, detailing blunders, collusion and shady methods. Prominent editors such as Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail and Andrew Neil of The Sunday Times have whole chapters dedicated to their errors. The same is true of Roger Alton and Kamal Ahmed of the Observer, both of whom resigned shortly after the book was published.
Flat Earth News has earned Davies a large following as well as a place on the international lecture circuit.
Peter Oborne, a columnist for the Daily Mail and the Spectator, said: “Nick’s book is simply the best thing for our profession.”
Unsurprisingly, not all of Davies’ colleagues are so appreciative. Peter Preston, the former Guardian editor who reviewed the book, sarcastically refers to Davies as “Saint Nick” and has described Flat Earth News as excessively vengeful and self-righteous.
David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief of Reuters, who has three unfavourable appearances in the book, said: “There are a lot of issues with this book. The numbers don’t add up. ”But Davies denies factual mistakes and defends his findings: “The only things I will change are spelling mistakes and minor clarifications.”
Flat Earth News is a lament about the rise of “churnalism”, the commercialised news produced by journalists who are given neither the time nor the resources to dig up stories, let alone check facts. Costly, time-consuming investigations, such as the stories Davies made his name with, are fast becoming a thing of the past.
A journalist since 1976, Davies has mainly written for the Guardian and reported on the systemic failure of widely accepted policies such as putting more Bobbies on the beat or making heroin illegal. Only few media outlets remain willing to fund such controversial and potentially unpopular stories.
Davies paints a gloomy picture of the future of the fourth estate, ending with a prediction of the imminent death of good journalism at the hands of ruthless owners and an almighty PR industry.
“I have not lost faith in journalism,” Davies says. “We can still win the little battles. But with the big battles, I think we are in a lot of trouble.”
