Dangerous obsession

Abstract

In an extract from his new book, the head of journalism and publishing at City University, London, comments: "There are important issues about the way the media conducts itself, but they're not important because we need to build 'trust'. Trust is a shoddy yardstick. It doesn't gauge truth, it gauges what looks close to the truth: verisimilitude - not a word to use after a late night out. As journalists, we tend to sneer at intellectualism and value pragmatism. If broadcasters are going to take their editorial policies seriously, then they need to get over the current obsession with 'trust' and engage with the moral contradictions and intellectual problems at the heart of those policies. And that might require a little more philosophy and a little less marketing."