Balanced, calm and fair
- 19 Jun 08, 02:30 PM
There's been some criticism lately, and some internal discussion, about whether the أغر؟´«أ½ is in any danger of talking down the economy.
Essentially, the question seems to be whether our reporting is adding to - or even creating - gloom and pessimism around the economy. I don't believe it is.
In a week when the Governor of the Bank of England has said that the is facing its most difficult challenge for 20 years it seems to me the tone of our coverage has been balanced, calm and fair.
Firstly, we don't generally produce our own figures, statistics and surveys. We rely on and interpret a range of information - from official government figures to reports and indices from organisations such as banks, estate agents and other bodies. In reporting those figures we try hard to put them in context and accord them the weight of coverage we think they deserve.
Secondly, and most importantly, we try to make the best use of what we hear from you, our audiences across the platforms. From the picture we get reporting around the UK, and what we see online, it's clear that many people are feeling a serious squeeze right now from higher food, energy and other prices. I'd urge you to take at look at our and read some of the there. So do we emphasise the gloomy picture by ignoring any good news? Again, I don't believe we do.
It's clear that some sectors of the economy are doing pretty well and we report that. If you're a company which exports then the weak pound is a positive boon right now. Likewise, falling house prices are quite good news for potential first-time buyers, though arguably the disappearance of many cheap mortgage deals and high loan-to-value mortgages has more than offset that.
Just today, we're reporting a surge in . We also regularly point out the reasons to have some faith in the robustness of the UK economy - high employment being chief among them. But, as the Bank of England and many others believe, the big picture remains a more worrying one and it's our job and our duty to reflect that.
PS. You might have spotted that Hugh Pym has taken over as Economics Editor. For those wondering, Stephanie Flanders has now started her maternity leave and I'm delighted Hugh has agreed to step into her shoes. As a reward he gets a tiny office and will probably work even longer hours than he has up till now as our economics correspondent. Stephanie has said she'll be calling me any time she sees something on the output she doesn't like, probably starting with this blog!
Jeremy Hillman is editor of the business and economics unit
