General Direction

Will Lewis, who used to be the Editor of the Daily Telegraph, has been shortlisted for the position of Director-General of the BBC. Now, think about that for a moment.

Officially, the London media conform to the political spectrum of the country about which they know anything, and not to that of the country in which they are located. There are American-style liberals, there are American-style conservatives, and, especially in the employ of Rupert Murdoch, there are the kind of people who might vote Democrat or Republican depending on the circumstances.

But between the two ends of the spectrum, there is a crucial difference that has also largely been carried over from across the Atlantic. However bad The Guardian may be, and of course it is, in private the people who write for it believe every word that they are writing. As do the people who write for the Daily Telegraph or the Daily Mail. In private, they, too, believe every word that is written in The Guardian. 

There are exceptions, but they are extremely rare, and they would never be allowed to become, for example, the Editor of the Daily Telegraph. For that, you need to be not only best mates with Robert Peston, but also, and not unconnectedly, capable of being shortlisted for the position of Director-General of the BBC.