The View From Europe
Backlash Against Blair
The British prime minister and his communications director find themselves under attack following complaint about unfair press coverage
By Nicola Mitchell

June 24, 2002 -- LONDON (APJP) -- You would think the press would have plenty to occupy their minds these days.

There's the war on terror, the crisis in the Middle East, the tensions between India and Pakistan, global warming, the ailing economy… need I go on?

While much of the American press may have been cautious about criticising their leader since 9/11, the British press have had a field day over the Bush/Blair relationship.

But now, the British press have stumbled on a story that, in their minds at least, eclipses all others. It's a story that's been brewing for a while now, but it has suddenly exploded into a headline obsessed frenzy.

What, I hear you ask, could be more important than the current conflicts going on around the world? Well George Bush can move over. Recent events have seen Bush relegated to the inside pages as press have a new target in their sights, as they fulfil a personal vendetta and full-out character assassination on Tony Blair, his government, and his wife.

It's widely acknowledge that when Tony Blair was laying the foundations of his New Labour government he looked over to President Clinton as a kind of inspirational figure. However, he should have studied his subject more carefully as Blair now finds himself facing a powerful enemy that became the bane of the Clinton presidency - a vindictive press corps baying for political blood.

This latest row centres around accusations from the rightwing press which say Blair and Alistair Campbell, Blair's communications director, tried to "muscle in" and even "hijack" the Queen Mother's funeral to create a bigger role for the Prime Minister.

Now if Downing Street had left the story alone, it would probably have played out for a few days and then died a natural death. However, Blair's team made a fatal mistake: They tried to show the press who was boss by going to the Press Complaints Commission to protest the accusations.

The result? Blair and Campbell virtually signed their own death warrants as far as the majority of the press were concerned, and of course, in the age of 24-hour news and scoop culture, it' s proved to be a story that not even the more liberal media can ignore.

Although the current furore dates back to the funeral of the Queen Mother, the roots of the war go back much further.

Just weeks after Blair swept to a landslide victory, the first murmurings of the battle ahead were beginning to surface. The New Labour government had received much support in the press, and in their eyes, they didn't seem to be getting a lot in return.

Then of course there is the small issue of Alistair Campbell, a one-time journalist who now controls the public, and private, face of the Blair government. In Campbell the UK press see one of their own having turned against them, depriving them of the information they so desperately crave.

We all know that Bill Clinton faced similar problems during his time in office with the press failing into the gutter, chasing 'non stories' such as Whitewater and relying on the likes of Matt Drudge to provide them with the 'facts' during the whole Lewinsky affair.

During this shameful time in journalism, I recall reading numerous smug articles by British journalists denouncing the practices of their American counterparts for their practices. But oh, how times appear to have changed, leaving Blair and Campbell to occupy the space vacated by Bill Clinton and Mike McCurry.

In a situation both Clinton and McCurry would find eerily familiar, the current "evidence" being presented shows the Queen Mother story up to be more of a Whitewater than a Lewinsky, nothing more than a puffed up vindictive series of rumours and speculation, a muscle flexing exercise by the press to show Downing Street not to play with fire, or they may end up getting burned badly.

And it appears to be working.

For my part, I'm just sick of the whole point scoring affair, but unfortunately for Blair, not everyone is seeing it that way, as the press appear to be winning the war. A recent poll showed that around 68% of the British public now feel that New Labour Minister's are untrustworthy liars. Who knows, it may turn out that the stories do have some element of truth, but at present the evidence presented is weak at best.

And so it's a sad state of affairs we find ourselves in. You may think it is hypercritical of me to slate the press for criticising a political leader, as after all, I've never been a great fan of George W. Bush and have often said so, but my motives are not malicious, and I'm not going after him purely for the sake of it.

So where does it all end? Talk to any person on the streets about the Blair government and you can guarantee they'll mention spin, whether they know anything about politics or not, they'll tell you that Blair virtually invented spin, it's what his whole government is about, and it's what his legacy will be, all because the press have taken a collective disliking him.

Growing up, my romanticised view of the press was as the powerful Fourth Estate fighting for truth and justice, bringing the rich and powerful to account.

But in truth, the media industry, much like the political landscape, has become corrupted by money and business. It's dollars versus democracy, and democracy is increasingly coming in at second place.