Harry, Drudge and the British media

Last Modified: 29 Feb 2008
By: Newsroom blogger

In the newsroom the morning after the night before...

It took a website - and no ordinary website.

The Drudge Report has been the scourge of the Washington establishment since it broke the Monica Lewinsky story back 1998. Now it's gone head-to-head with our own holy trinity - Buckingham Palace, the Ministry of Defence and the fourth estate.

But here's the twist. Drudge wasn't the first to break the news of Harry's deployment in Afghanistan.

It had been covered by an Australian website last month and in a diary piece in German paper Bild earlier this week.

Which all goes to underline how many eyeballs are on Drudge. And how many influential eyeballs at that.

So this story - potent mix of royalty, politics and the media - will go on. One newsroom voice even suggests that UK editors have collectively "nailed their colours to the mast", tacitly supporting the war by agreeing to the blackout.

The first two reports were little noticed. The third forced the MoD to lift a news blackout that the British broadcast and print media had voluntarily entered into.

In last night's Snowmail, Jon Snow began with these words: "I never thought I'd find myself saying thank God for Drudge. The infamous US blogger has broken the best kept editorial secret of recent times."

Jon went on to ask: "One wonders whether viewers, readers and listeners will ever want to trust media bosses again. Or perhaps this was a courageous editorial decision to protect this fine young man?"

Cue debate. Snowmail - coupled with discussions on last night programme - led to a level of correspondence into news@channel4.com rarely witnessed.

Many were crictical of Jon's approach to the subject in last night's programme. Many were supportive.

In today's morning news meeting: "There was a guy on the radio we should get on tonight. His name's Jon Snow but I think we may have had him last night."

Today, we expect the government to confirm Harry's immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan - and indeed the 24-hour news channels are reporting just that right now.

But there are also questions to be asked about how British Muslims might react to Harry's bullish "killing the bad guys" line in the pooled interview shown on Channel 4 News and elsewhere.

"But he's talking about the Taliban - not Muslim fighters in general," says one voice. Others aren't so sure.

So this story - potent mix of royalty, politics and the media - will go on. One newsroom voice even suggests that UK editors have collectively "nailed their colours to the mast", tacitly supporting the war by agreeing to the blackout.

Tonight, as usual on a Friday, Channel 4 News is only 30 minutes long. So much to pack in on this and many other stories. Oh, and - lawyers willing - we'll have a genuine world exclusive that will likely take up the first half of the show.

We can't tell you any more at this stage. More secrecy...