DRAMA QUEENS REIGN IN TODAY’S MEDIA WORLD

WHY DID the BBC cover up for Martin Bashir? Because he had scooped the interview of the century.Why did it cover up for Jimmy Savile? Because he was a top celebrity and money-spinner.

Is that unique to the Corporation?

Almost certainly not. Today’s media is based on competition. Will Strictly Come Dancing beat

Big Brother for ratings?Which programme got most viewers last night?

Who got the car crash interview this week?Who has extracted the most dramatic admission from a politician or celebrity? Melodrama rules the roost: in news headlines, in interviewing, in reporting.

Thoughtful interviews, quiet analysis and boring old facts come a poor second.

The BBC cannot report any natural disaster without ascribing it to climate change, even if fires and floods have happened throughout the ages.

The threatened extinction of life on earth is just so much more exciting.

Calm down, dears!