TREAT JOURNALISTS AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH WITH ‘RESPECT’, ROTHERMERE WARNS POLITICAL ELITE

Freedom of speech is being taken for granted and must be defended against threats from a ‘heavy handed political establishment’, Viscount Rothermere told the London Press Club Ball.  Politicians seeking to muzzle journalists and a free press should take care to ‘treat us with the respect we deserve,’ he said as he also fired the starting gun for the Journalists’ Charity’s 150^th anniversary friend- and fund-raising campaign.

Lord Rothermere, patron of this year’s London Press Club Ball and president of the Journalists’ Charity for which it was raising funds, used his short speech to mount a vigorous defence of freedom of expression and to hammer home the vital role of an unshackled media in a modern democracy.  Against the backdrop of the Leveson Inquiry into the phone hacking scandal at the News of the World, which is also examining the wider relationship between the media, police and politicians, he said the Press was ‘locked in horns with the political establishment’ and having to navigate ‘choppy waters’.  As a result, there had never been a more important time for journalists ‘to stand up, and remind everybody what it is that we are all actually here to do’, he told the audience of 400 senior journalists, editors and executives.

Lord Rothermere, chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust said: ‘Freedom of speech, freedom of expression, the support of a free, open and accountable democracy … these are all things that up to now this country has taken for granted.’  ‘But be warned, these are not values that survive simply due to the fact that they exist.  ‘These are values that only survive, like anything that is precious to us, if we look after them, if we value them and if we respect them.’

Speaking at the Ball in the Natural History Museum on Thursday October 13, he said: ’I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that currently we are locked in horns with the political establishment as to the pattern of our future… locked in horns with a political establishment whose daily heartbeat and consequent survival is sustained through the channels of communication that we provide.’

 His message to politicians was: ‘Be careful to treat us with the respect that we deserve.   ‘Don’t forget that more often than not, it is left to us, the press industry in this country, to stand up for people up and down this land against an often heavy-handed political establishment.’    He said UK has ‘the best journalists in the world’ and a journalism which is ‘the envy of the modern world’ but added: ’As we become embroiled in a debate regards the workings of our industry and its future, it is important that we all work together, we think together and we speak clearly with one voice – reminding people that they live in a country where freedom of expression is the defining aspect of our democracy.   ‘And whilst, like our political peers, we are not always perfect, what we stand for and provide is a way of life that for many people around the world could only ever be regarded as the unattainable dream.’

Among senior media figures present at the Ball to hear Lord Rothermere’s speech were Daily Mail editor-in-chief Paul Dacre; executive director of the Telegraph Media Group, Lord Black of Brentwood; Independent on Sunday editor John Mullin; Press Association editor Jonathan Grun; and Society of Editors’ executive director Bob Satchwell, plus chairman Bill Hagerty and other trustees of the Journalists’ Charity.

Philippa Kennedy OBE, Press Ball chair

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A ‘CHARITY CHAMPION’ IN EVERY NEWSROOM TO DRIVE FRIEND- AND FUND-RAISING EFFORT, SAYS PRESIDENT

Open your contacts books AND your wallets.  A ‘champion’ in every newsroom must be recruited drive the Journalists’ Charity’s 150^th anniversary friend- and fund-raising campaign, said Lord Rothermere.  Speaking at the London Press Club Ball, he explained how five years ago he laid the foundation stone of the charity’s new £3million care home in Dorking – Pickering House – which was opened the following year by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Wessex.   But the Journalists’ Charity president added: ’Tonight I want to lay a foundation stone of a different kind: a foundation on which the charity can build extensively in the run up to the landmark 150th anniversary.   ‘And that is to help kick-start an ambitious new recruitment drive to significantly boost the number of active and subscribing supporters – let’s call them ‘friends’.

He said that to spearhead the major fund-raising and friend-raising initiative, the charity wanted to find a ‘charity champion’ in every newspaper, magazine, radio and TV newsroom, and every journalism association or society: ’These champions will provide a point of contact, spreading the word among all journalists everywhere  -in print, on air, online.’  He noted: ’We need signing up to the Journalists’ Charity to become second nature and a lifelong habit – from the moment the young embark on an exciting media career to when eventually they meet their final deadline.’

Lord Rothermere said: ’The 150th Anniversary action is about friend raising, not just fundraising. It’s about opening your contacts books – not just your wallets.’  Support for the charity in the drive towards its 150^th anniversary in 2014 was a way of proving ‘what a decent, open-hearted trade this is’.   Journalists should show their support by signing up immediately – or online ‘for as little as £1 a week ‘.

The charity now covers all those who are working, or have worked, in journalism – in print, on air and online – and their dependents, and spends more than £300,000 a year helping those and their families struck down by ill health, unemployment, infirmity or plain bad luck.  Lord Rothermere noted: ’At a time when more and more of our friends and colleagues are losing their jobs by the day, the Journalists’ Charity has truly come into its own.   ‘Trustees who sift the hundreds of requests for help each year tell me how deeply humbling it is to see a high-flying career brought low by an unexpected twist of fate.    One told me: ‘Every time we examine a case I think ‘There but for the grace of God go I’.’

Lord Rothermere addresses the London Press Club Ball

It’s an honour for me to be patron of this year’s London Press Club Ball, as well as being President of the Journalists’ Charity for which tonight it is raising funds. Now, before I go on to tell you of some of the progress that this great charity is making, I’d like to make a few comments about our industry and the relatively choppy waters through which we are having to navigate ourselves. To my mind, there has never been a more important time for us, for everyone in this room, and indeed for our colleagues and journalists around the country, to stand up, and remind everybody what it is that we are all actually here to do. Because freedom of speech, freedom of expression, the support of a free, open and accountable democracy …these are all things that up to now this country has taken for granted.

But be warned, these are not values that survive simply due to the fact that they exist. These are values that only survive, like anything that is precious to us, if we look after them, If we value them and if we respect them. And I do not think it would be an exaggeration to say that currently we are locked in horns with the political establishment as to the pattern of our future. Locked in horns with a political establishment whose daily heartbeat and consequent survival is sustained through the channels of communication that we provide. And so I say to all of you here to tonight, and indeed to anyone else who is listening…be careful to treat us with the respect that we deserve. Don’t forget that more often than not, it is left to us, the press industry in this country, to stand up for people up and down this land against an often heavy-handed political establishment.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this country has the best journalists in the world. In fact not only do we have the best journalists in the world, but the quality of our journalism is the envy of the modern world. And I am in a good position to know this because in my capacity as chairman of the Daily Mail, I travel the world and hear it a lot.
So in the weeks and months to come, as we become embroiled in a debate regards the workings of our industry and its future, it is important that we all work together, we think together and we speak clearly with one voice – reminding people that they live in a country where freedom of expression is the defining aspect of our democracy. And whilst, like our political peers, we are not always perfect, what we stand for and provide is a way of life that for many people around the world could only ever be regarded as the unattainable dream.

So it’s for all these reasons that this charity we are all supporting tonight, is given all the best possible support we can muster. At a time when more and more of our friends and colleagues are losing their jobs by the day, the Journalists’ Charity has truly come into its own. The relatively recent change of name was to emphasise how the charity covers all those who are working, or have worked, in journalism – in print, on air and online – and their dependants. Today it spends more than £300,000 a year helping journalists and their families struck down by ill health, unemployment, infirmity or plain bad luck. Trustees who sift the hundreds of requests for help each year tell me how deeply humbling it is to see a high-flying career brought low by an unexpected twist of fate. One told me: ‘Every time we examine a case I think ‘There but for the grace of God go I’.’

Five years ago I was privileged to lay the foundation stone of the charity’s new £3million care home in Dorking – Pickering House – which was opened the following year by Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Wessex. Tonight I want to lay a foundation stone of a different kind: a foundation on which the charity can build extensively in the run up to the landmark 150th anniversary. And that is to help kick-start an ambitious new recruitment drive to significantly boost the number of active and subscribing supporters – let’s call them ‘friends’. All of you here tonight can help by becoming a friend of the charity.

The Journalists’ Charity wants to spearhead a major fund-raising and friend-raising initiative by finding a ‘charity champion’ in every newspaper, magazine, radio and TV newsroom, and every journalism association or society. These champions will provide a point of contact, spreading the word among all journalists everywhere -in print, on air, online. We need signing up to the Journalists’ Charity to become second nature and a lifelong habit – from the moment the young embark on an exciting media career to when eventually they meet their final deadline. Over the coming months your Charity will be getting in touch to ask for your help – but that can start right now. For as little as a £1 a week you can sign-up tonight to be a friend of the charity. If not, do it online and please do it soon. The 150th Anniversary action is about friend raising, not just fundraising. It’s about opening your contacts books – not just your wallets. Tonight’s Ball brochure gives more details about how you can help prove what a decent, open-hearted trade this is.

We’re grateful for the generous support of you all tonight, the corporate sponsors and all those media companies and individual journalists who have bought tables and seats. Please bid high and bid often in the charity auction and support the super raffle by buying as many tickets as you can. Thank you. And enjoy your evening.