Alison Rowat: From Marr to Morgan, how Covid is changing the media

First came the farewell to his ITV talk show Life Stories, which he placed in the safe hands of former colleague Kate Garraway. Last Sunday it was time to sign off from his Mail on Sunday column. Morgan will be joining his old boss, Rupert Murdoch, for the launch of the new channel talkTV next year.

This Sunday, over at the BBC, The Andrew Marr Show bows out. After 16 years in the job, and even longer at the corporation as a whole, the Glasgow-born broadcaster is off to commercial radio and to write for the New Statesman.

Even for an industry that has been in a state of permanent revolution since the 1980s and the arrival of new tech, the media is set for a lively 2022.

The shake-up comes on top of two years of Covid, which has already changed the media landscape. Question is, have the changes been for better or worse?

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If you like your evenings in front of the television to be a politician-free zone the answer is “worse”.

This week alone we had Boris Johnson crash Sunday night TV with an 8pm address on the vaccine booster campaign. On Monday it was Keir Starmer’s chance, and on Tuesday Nicola Sturgeon was ready for her close up.

The Prime Minister and First Minister favoured empty desks, while the Labour leader had an iPad, a folder, pens and water to hand, plus family photos and books on design on the shelves behind. Not that he was trying too hard.

Other than the speaker, the most important items on set were the flags, each one as big as the other as if was a competition. Which of course it is. With the beginning of the pandemic came the start of the lectern wars. For very special occasions, such as this week’s addresses, desks replace lecterns.

You may have wondered why these “ministerial broadcasts” were necessary. The BBC’s guidelines state: “In exceptional circumstances, such as a decision to go to war, the BBC may be required to provide time for a broadcast by a UK government minister.”

It goes on: “In such circumstances it may also be necessary for the BBC to consider whether responses from the other political parties are appropriate.”

Was the announcement of a booster vaccine campaign on a par with a decision to go to war? Even then, was the extra airtime necessary? By the time each broadcast was made, the politicians had already been given ample opportunities to get their message across. Ms Sturgeon, for example, made a statement in the Scottish Parliament that afternoon. It had widespread coverage in the media. Was she adding anything by doing the broadcast, or was this simply another case of “have chance to go on telly, will grab with both hands”?

Ms Sturgeon has been one of the canniest combatants in the lectern wars, striking early and often. No wonder the opposition parties have howled so much about all that free publicity for the FM.

At least Ms Sturgeon hangs around to answer questions from MSPs and the media. The Prime Minister’s Sunday broadcast, however, body swerved the Commons and the media alike. No questions, strictly Boris business, and just like that he was gone.

Covid started and fuelled the lectern wars, but how sure can we be that they will end when life, hopefully, gets back to normal? It is hard to see any politician giving up the habit without a fight. The more politicians exploit what is supposed to be a rare incursion into the schedules the more likely it becomes the norm. That can only be to the detriment of parliaments and the media alike.

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One way in which Covid has brought about media changes for the better is the resurgence of specialist correspondents. The value of allowing reporters to build up knowledge, contacts, and experience in one area has never been more obvious. It is another reminder, should one be needed, that quality journalism costs and is worth investing in.

Welcome back, too, to experts. It seems a long time since Michael Gove declared that the public had had enough of experts. Now “the science” rules okay. Or it does with rational people. Which brings us to social media.

Conspiracy theorists, populists, deniers, and other haters of the mainstream media have been in their warped element during the pandemic. It might be some solace to think that they were merely passing misinformation to each other. But their reach is such, and their methods ever more sophisticated, that they have inevitably widened their audience. The social media platforms have hardly bust a gut to rein in the chaos. Anarchy pays too well.

There is another way the media, like other aspects of our lives, has been tested and changed by the pandemic. The stock of reliable, informed reporting and analysis has gone up in value, and long may that continue.

The real boom, though, is in opinion. The moves by Marr and Morgan illustrate this. Marr, predicting an even more turbulent decade ahead, said he was leaving the BBC “to get my own voice back”.

The deal with Rupert Murdoch gives Morgan an evening television show and a newspaper column, among other things. Above all, it gives him more exposure internationally.

It is up to the public, and the market, to decide whether this shift towards more opinion works. One need only look at the shambles that is GB News to see how it can go wrong. Ideally, having many opinions blossom should be a good thing for society. But what if it is only the loudest, most strident voices that end up being heard, without filter or regulation, and for questionable purposes? How do we keep the necessary dividing line between news and opinion?

Media times, particularly in broadcasting, are changing. We could be on the verge of a golden age of opinion, or heading further into a media wild west. In their own ways, Marr, Morgan and their ilk are pioneers, with the chance to set standards for others to follow. Here’s hoping they are not setting off too late.