like the pandora papers. ok, ok, but i want to go back to the whole notion of making these stories, if you like, sexy. again from my personal experience working on a tv documentary on the enron scandal, the producer had to come up with some really imaginative visual metaphors to try and keep the viewer engaged and hooked. and, alexandra, i m sure in a sense the economist has to think hard about this, too. keeping the reader hooked. i think, absolutely. and also i think what unites both of these stories is it confirms things that people already suspected and didn t quite know. so, also how. everyone assumes that the wealthy and oligarchs kind of bend the rules and own properties in tonnes of different luxurious
the facebook whistle blower chose not just to go to the sec and regulators to report her concern, but went to the wall street journal because public scrutiny would force the hand of regulators and potentially make greater change. so, i think that all of these stories highlight the power and relevance of traditional media. well, that is all we have got time for today. thank you to all my guests, tojuliette garcide, deputy political editor at the guardian, to ben smith media columnist at the new york times, alexandra suich bass, a columnist at the economist and margot gibbs, investigative reporter at the international consortium of investigative journalists. the media show will be back at the same time next week. for now, goodbye.
well, you are already seeing in the us that lawmakers are pushing an anti corruption bill called the enablers act, which is exactly to do with the fact that icij and its hundreds of partners and reported public interest issues, which involve notjust the dirty money of individual people, but dirty money which is facilitated across borders by people in suits, the lawyers, the bankers, the pr firms. and, yeah, that s already happening, so the impact is there. and often, you know, this is a reminder, as everyone has said, of things we suspected were happening anyway, but clearly this kind of publication helps to actually improve things. and all your hard slog has been worth it, is an aspect of that. alexandra, last word to you. do you think that all these revelations actually will change things? well, i think this was absolutely a week that reinforced the power of media.
from the dead. and are now facing lawsuits from investors who would l like to shut back down and give them their money please. - 0k. the reason we asked about. i asked what this whole notion of what this whole notion of the public is interested in is because that is the kind of investigative journalism that i can argue all four of you do. i mean, alexandra from the economist, frances haugen, the former facebook employee appeared before the us senate this week accusing facebook of harming democracy and putting profits before public good. now obviously they deny this and have disputed much of what she said, and this all seems like a juicy story. but i want to read you a tweet from veteran silicon valley observer benedict evans. he says, i really wonder how much any facebook story now changes anyone s minds. this group of people is now quite convinced that facebook is evil. and see any news story as proof. and the rest of us who think
but at the same time, some would say they identified the market. it was not polemical, it was not brash, it was not polarising. in some ways, it should work, should it not? no, i don t think so. maybe. i mean media that is boring and has no stakes is not. traditionally media - people want to consume. well, alexandra from the economist, we on the media show talk lot about the need for a friendlier, more thoughtful journalism. but bearing in mind what ben just said, is the internet geared up to allow that? is it actually what people want, do you think? i think social media and the internet reflects human beings and society, so many people like to point fingers at social media. there is a question about whether or not we should be pointing the finger at ourselves as well. but i think it s certainly much more entertaining political theatre to point the finger at facebook and social media