Firing party
Sir: Although I share Aneurin Bevan's general view of the British press, some of my best friends are journalists. All the same, let me assure Mr Grundy (17 May) that I would not go so far as to describe myself as one of them, although as I cannot play the piano, I may one day find myself standing in the gutter holding out my band in vain for an NUJ card.
The job is an enviable one. There you sit in your butts shooting at all and sundry and if any of the victims fires back you rise up in righteous indignation. 'The freedom of the press is at stake' you scream to loud applause all round.
One must agree with Mr Grundy that no one is forced to be a politician. Equally, there is no compulsory journalism and as for becoming a newspaper tycoon, the routes to the eminence are such as to deter fastidious people. Un- happily, the salutary process by which mil are Subject to summary dismissal by an electorate is not extended to journalists, still less to their employers.
If it were, the situation would be more healthy than it is for quite a lot of the stench in our society emanates from its communica- tions media which are frequently corrupt and corrupting. I am, of course, referring to more important things than money and let me assure Mr Grundy that in this I am not on his side. I do not mistake the fetid vapours of the Fleet ditch for the fresh and precious air of freedom.
As your correspondent says, on the occasion which caused him to draw bead on me, I com- pared the treatment given by radio and tele- vision to Enoili Powell's 'racialist' speech with thai accorded to the Prime Minister's reply. I said, as has been correctly reported by the best people in the newspaper business, that the radio and television treatment of the two speeches was irresponsible. And so it was. Damnably irresponsible for reasons which I gave and will not take your space in repeating.
The action I called for by the Government, however, was not, as your readers might have deduced from Mr Grundy's piece, that they should directly intervene but rather that the PMO in considering future appointments to the Board of Governors of the BBC and to the Independent Television Authority, should give consideration to people who would require a balanced pre- sentation of news and current affairs. No more than that.
If Mr Grundy thinks that the treatment of the Powell speech and the responses to it was balanced and responsible, he will only succeed in reinforcing my view that the shooting should not be all on one side.
House of Commons, London SW1
liugh Jenkins
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