What price the news?

There is an aspect of the news which is frequently reported but less frequently commented upon, those people who are prepared to sell their stories.

It is an unavoidable fact of the business that people wanting to get their stories into the papers is the bread and butter of a lot of publications. How many times have people sold stories about alleged affairs and indiscretions which they may, or may not as the facts can attest, have been involved in to boost their profile and make a few quick bucks into the bargain.

Take for example Dean Barry who decided to recount his horror of finding out that he was mass murderer Fred West’s love child in a Sunday red top. Whereas it would seem clear to most people that if we found out we were related to a renowned and hated psychopath we would keep it quiet he decided that it was sensible to tell the world. I cannot comment on whether he received money to tell his story, but based on past experiences it would not be beyond the realms of possibility that he was.

When everything has a price then everyone has a price and that creates a problem for a truly free and honest and press. When people start to think that it is acceptable to share their family’s dirtiest secrets to make some money, with no thought as to the long term consequences for everyone they have ever met, then you have to start wondering what they will say, and how truthful they will be with it.

When stories rely on people’s greed then those stories automatically become tainted and so does the very institution which allowed them to exploit a situation for that end.

I am not so naive as to think that the press will never pay for information but that is very different from paying for the whole story. Taking a look at the front page which showed Mr Barry expressing his horror at finding out who his biological father was all it really demonstrated was that he cared so little about it that he was prepared to tell the world without hesitation.

Sometimes in order for the real news to come out reluctant informants must be encouraged by a variety of means to tell their stories.  Journalism is about revealing those stories which are in the public interest. Sometimes those stories are justified and sometimes not. When people only judge whether or not they should tell those stories by how much they can make from publishing them then objectivity, responsibility, integrity and honesty are all put in jeopardy.

The freedom of the press is crucial to the smooth running of a free state. It is essential because it keeps people honest. When that honesty is brought into question because people may or may not have said something as a means to make a bit of extra cash before Christmas then the whole premise collapses.