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Helsinki Edition
October 1998
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Britain Goes Bananas
The British press is divided about Europe. Almost as divided as the politicians. Everyone has an opinion but nobody is quite sure what it is.
One minute journalists are praising the European Court of Human Rights for protecting children from parental abuse. The next they ridicule Europe for labeling British chocolate fake. After watching politicians lose popularity because of the issue, editors fear alienating readers over their stance on Europe. After all, as the Conservative Party found out to their cost at the last election, editors fiercely guard the prerogative to change their minds. This was shown in The Sun's dramatic change of political allegiance when it abandoned John Major to back Tony Blair.
Even papers of the same political persuasion can not agree on the crucial issue of the single currency. The Independent proclaimed that the euro is "adding to the world's economic instability" but The Mirror stated that "the majority of Britons understand that we need to be in the Euro". Objectivity is often missing from reports on Europe.
Triviallising serious issues is a speciality when it comes to the tabloids and they certainly weren't going to let the Euro escape. Not famous for respecting the royals, every paper was outraged that the queen's head might be chopped from the currency. They felt that they had already been lectured by Brussels on everything from bent bananas to the cocoa content of chocolate. Issues of national identity are perhaps the only thing guaranteed to unite the British press.
How can a country unite over participation in Europe when they can't even straighten their bananas?
Nancy Fielder
Gareth Andrewartha |
