Difference between revisions of "Talk:John Kampfner"

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Kampfner and Leonard trade favours by reviewing each others' books in the NS or the CER respectively. <ref>John Kampfner, [http://www.cer.org.uk/articles/reviews_leonard.html Why Europe will Run the 21st Century], CER reprint, 28 February 2005.</ref>  You can even catch Leonard and Kampfner doing the rounds at Jewish Book Week <ref>[http://www.jewishbookweek.com/2006/programme.php Jewish Book Week: 2006]: List of events and speakers</ref>
 
Kampfner and Leonard trade favours by reviewing each others' books in the NS or the CER respectively. <ref>John Kampfner, [http://www.cer.org.uk/articles/reviews_leonard.html Why Europe will Run the 21st Century], CER reprint, 28 February 2005.</ref>  You can even catch Leonard and Kampfner doing the rounds at Jewish Book Week <ref>[http://www.jewishbookweek.com/2006/programme.php Jewish Book Week: 2006]: List of events and speakers</ref>
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===This sentence needs referenced===
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Kampfer has often repeated the notion that Gordon Brown is some kind of left-wing Saviour, or measurably different, and that things, once again, can only get better.
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=== whilst this might be the case… I’ve removed this bit for now as it is along the lines of opinion & speculation(re the bit at the end) and the quotes draw more heavily on the interviewees views rather than Kampfners===
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In several respects his work is a pointless read &ndash; soft left without a critical edge. Here is the last paragraph of an interview with Patricia Hewitt:
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:"The leadership that both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have been giving on these global issues, but now with Tony in particular around terrorism and the relationship between Islam and Muslim communities and the rest of the world, that leadership is superb." One thing Patricia Hewitt cannot be accused of is failing to see the bright side.<ref>John Kampfner, [http://www.jkampfner.net/articles/ns250705.html Interview - Patricia Hewitt], New Statesman, 25 July 2005 (Accessed 2 September 2007)</ref>
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There is not much else to the piece.  He doesn’t pose any challenging questions.
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Here is the end of his interview with Gordon Brown:
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:"It is strange when politicians urge protesters to urge the politicians to do more, but that is the state of play as Gleneagles approaches. Brown heaps praise on Oxfam, Christian Aid, other non-governmental organisations and church groups, and – inevitably – Bono and Bob Geldof. He welcomes the forthcoming marches in Edinburgh and elsewhere, urging that they must be "properly stewarded" to ensure that "nothing happens which prevents us from focusing on the issues".  And he says: "Already what people have done and said outside mainstream political activity has made a huge difference. The changes wouldn't have happened without the dialogue with NGOs. Millions of people have now taken up the issue. The challenge for Gleneagles is to build on what's happened so far."<ref>John Kampfner, [http://www.jkampfner.net/articles/ns040705.html Interview - Gordon Brown], New Statesman, 4 July 2005, (Accessed: 2 September 2007)</ref>
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The "interview" with Brown is better described as an opportunity for Brown to state his position without being challenged.  The last paragraph of an 'interview' with David Miliband:
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:There is something endearingly timeless about his politics. I suggest that, unlike many around Blair circa 1997, Miliband could not have been accused of trying to be fashionable. "I don't think I've ever been accused of being faddish," he says. "I'm more Marks & Spencer than Ted Baker."<ref>John Kampfner, [http://www.jkampfner.net/articles/ns081203_2.html NS Interview - David Miliband], New Statesman, 8 December 2003 (Accessed: 2 September 2007) </ref>
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Kampfner's literary agent's website suggests one possible reason why Kampfner's is so friendly:
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: On return to London, he joined the masonic world of the political lobby at Westminster, first as Chief Political Correspondent of the Financial Times and then as political correspondent and analyst for the BBC Today programme. <ref>[http://www.davidhigham.co.uk/html/Clients/Kampfner Clients: John Kampfner] (Accessed: 2 September 2007)</ref>
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The [[Lobby Rules]] effectively prevent journalistic objectivity.  The trade off for access doesn't seem to be worth it for the reader: it's a living for Kampfner, but it may help to inhibit a critical stance.
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===Unable to locate source for this bit===
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The process whereby Kampfner can imagine that (again along with Leonard etc.) fronting something like the [[Progress]] "national conference" introduced by the Tony Blair MP and the Peter Hain ''isn't'' the establishment is part and parcel of Kampfner's mind set: <ref>[http://www.progressives.org.uk/uploadstore/cms/docs/PRO%20annual%20conference%2005v3.pdf]</ref>

Revision as of 19:01, 8 October 2007

The article needs to be rewritten in toto... it is basically a poorly written jab at Kampfner... not all well documented. Even the first few paragraph lack cohesion or logic...

I hope that is OK to do a major reshuffle and axing of silly material.

Paulo

yes, it's ok. but let's all be careful about criticising each others work. This page certainly needed work and you have contributed to that. I think we need to try and adopt an approach which encourages people to contributs and where we are all respectful of each others contributions.

OK?

--David 15:14, 2 September 2007 (BST)

Removed sections

Unable to locate this in the source…

Much of his work for Editorial Intelligence has been to tell us how great other people in Editorial Intelligence are. [1]

source not available

One decorative use of this – was the Foreign Policy Centre (FPC), which has close ties to the intelligence services, is funded by mercenary companies (working in Iraq) and is largely pro-war and pro-government. Kampfner joined with John Lloyd and Stephen Twigg to reinforce the FPC's line at the Fabian Society's "Britishness" Conference. [2]

source no longer available

Note that the New Statesman was a former Hobsbawm Macaulay Communications client [3] The NS has described Editorial Intelligence as a small, self-referential clique comprised of press, TV, public relations, publishing and politics clones.

Removed for just now

Kampfner is only mentioned very briefly in the source… might be worth considering if we want to keep this bit. If yes, then this piece could do with a bit of reworking/rewording (including referencing)…

This came after a bit of a falling out over Lloyd's promotion of the wholesale adoption of neo-conservatism.[4] Part of the gymnastics of those mysterious commentators who claim to be left-wing but hold no discernible left-wing views are that after their somersaults they must land on the side of whoever holds the reins of power. [5]

Parts of this piece don’t appear to be substantiated by the sources. It could also do with a bit of clarification (ie making clear what it is that this part is trying to convey)

Although he has written on the news management of the Iraq war [6] by the US and UK, in reviews Kampfner uncritically promotes both the FPC and the Centre for European Reform (CER) – both run by Mark Leonard and both of which are, amongst other things, engaged in "public diplomacy". [7] The CER's Charles Grant returns the reviewing favours by praising Kampfner in Prospect magazine. Here we read some of the mildest rebukes of Blair and indeed Mr. Bush to be committed to paper:

George Bush often displays a similarly Manichean worldview, which may be why the two men get on as well as they do. Both Bush and Blair are instinctive politicians who attach great importance to personal relationships. [8]

Kampfner and Leonard trade favours by reviewing each others' books in the NS or the CER respectively. [9] You can even catch Leonard and Kampfner doing the rounds at Jewish Book Week [10]

This sentence needs referenced

Kampfer has often repeated the notion that Gordon Brown is some kind of left-wing Saviour, or measurably different, and that things, once again, can only get better.

whilst this might be the case… I’ve removed this bit for now as it is along the lines of opinion & speculation(re the bit at the end) and the quotes draw more heavily on the interviewees views rather than Kampfners

In several respects his work is a pointless read – soft left without a critical edge. Here is the last paragraph of an interview with Patricia Hewitt:

"The leadership that both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have been giving on these global issues, but now with Tony in particular around terrorism and the relationship between Islam and Muslim communities and the rest of the world, that leadership is superb." One thing Patricia Hewitt cannot be accused of is failing to see the bright side.[11]

There is not much else to the piece. He doesn’t pose any challenging questions.

Here is the end of his interview with Gordon Brown:

"It is strange when politicians urge protesters to urge the politicians to do more, but that is the state of play as Gleneagles approaches. Brown heaps praise on Oxfam, Christian Aid, other non-governmental organisations and church groups, and – inevitably – Bono and Bob Geldof. He welcomes the forthcoming marches in Edinburgh and elsewhere, urging that they must be "properly stewarded" to ensure that "nothing happens which prevents us from focusing on the issues". And he says: "Already what people have done and said outside mainstream political activity has made a huge difference. The changes wouldn't have happened without the dialogue with NGOs. Millions of people have now taken up the issue. The challenge for Gleneagles is to build on what's happened so far."[12]

The "interview" with Brown is better described as an opportunity for Brown to state his position without being challenged. The last paragraph of an 'interview' with David Miliband:

There is something endearingly timeless about his politics. I suggest that, unlike many around Blair circa 1997, Miliband could not have been accused of trying to be fashionable. "I don't think I've ever been accused of being faddish," he says. "I'm more Marks & Spencer than Ted Baker."[13]

Kampfner's literary agent's website suggests one possible reason why Kampfner's is so friendly:

On return to London, he joined the masonic world of the political lobby at Westminster, first as Chief Political Correspondent of the Financial Times and then as political correspondent and analyst for the BBC Today programme. [14]

The Lobby Rules effectively prevent journalistic objectivity. The trade off for access doesn't seem to be worth it for the reader: it's a living for Kampfner, but it may help to inhibit a critical stance.

Unable to locate source for this bit

The process whereby Kampfner can imagine that (again along with Leonard etc.) fronting something like the Progress "national conference" introduced by the Tony Blair MP and the Peter Hain isn't the establishment is part and parcel of Kampfner's mind set: [15]

  1. ↑ Roy Greenslade, Would you like your news spun or opinionated?, Telegraph, 22 November 2005.
  2. ↑ Document No longer Accessible, (Accessed 1 Sept 2007)
  3. ↑ Tom Bower, 'Houdini' Robinson's great escape, Telegraph, 3 July 2001.
  4. ↑ Oliver Kamm, John Lloyd on "The Case for Freedom", Blog, 8 December 2005.
  5. ↑ The case for freedom For a few on the left, Tony Blair's determination to take a stand against tyranny has been a source of admiration rather than despair. John Lloyd explains why, when it comes to foreign policy, he is no longer ashamed to be called a Neoconservative, New Statesman, Published 12 December 2005
  6. ↑ John Kampfner, The Disgrace of the BBC, Weekly Standard, 25 August 2003
  7. ↑ [1]
  8. ↑ Charles Grant, Blair's five wars, Prospect, October 2003. (Accessed: 1 September 2007)
  9. ↑ John Kampfner, Why Europe will Run the 21st Century, CER reprint, 28 February 2005.
  10. ↑ Jewish Book Week: 2006: List of events and speakers
  11. ↑ John Kampfner, Interview - Patricia Hewitt, New Statesman, 25 July 2005 (Accessed 2 September 2007)
  12. ↑ John Kampfner, Interview - Gordon Brown, New Statesman, 4 July 2005, (Accessed: 2 September 2007)
  13. ↑ John Kampfner, NS Interview - David Miliband, New Statesman, 8 December 2003 (Accessed: 2 September 2007)
  14. ↑ Clients: John Kampfner (Accessed: 2 September 2007)
  15. ↑ [2]
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