Hold monarchy to account, says Dean

The media has a responsibility to be more critical of the monarchy, a royal expert at City has claimed.

Anna Whitelock, Professor of the History of Monarchy at City, and the Executive Dean of the School of Communication and Creativity, highlighted the difference between reporting on the monarchy, and on politicians and political parties.

Professor Whitelock said this reporting needs to be more impartial. “So much of the reporting of the monarchy is partial, uncritical and not very well informed.”

The author and broadcaster continued: “This isn’t just about a family. It’s a monarchy that has power and infuence.”

Given the control that the monarchy has, including sovereign power which places the monarch above the law, Professor Whitelock explained that critical reporting “does matter”.

The royals have been the centre of attention this past year, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the ascension of King Charles to the throne., the release of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, and his Netfix show: Harry & Meghan.

Professor Whitelock said the media’s relationship with the family can be traced to the 1950s when the BBC broadcasted the Coronation of the Queen.

“There was this sense of that relationship with the television companies and, in the sense the BBC, to be one of respect and reverence.”

Speaking about media outlets today, she added: “They want access to the monarchy. They want do the royal broadcast, so they accept the royals’ terms.”

However, Professor Whitelock said that it is vital for journalists to be “informative, questioning, and critical” in their reporting of the royal family in the same way they are with politics.

Professor Whitelock added that events such as royal weddings, appearances, and births are “in a sense, a distraction”.

The general perception of being a royal reporter is that you go on royal tours and attend events, Professor Whitelock explained. But you can also be a “real investigative journalist”.

“I would like to think future journalists see this as an institution that plays a role in our national life, in terms of diplomacy, politics and society,” she said.

Ella Kipling

Remembering Melanie McFadyean

The journalist and former City lecturer Melanie McFadyean has died of cancer aged 72. A campaigner who wrote for a range of magazines and newspapers, she was known for her fearlessness and sense of humour.

She taught at City from 2001 to 2015, running the Investigative MA and later taught on the Magazine MA.

Sebastian Payne, a columnist at The Times, tweeted: “I was fortunate enough to be taught by Melanie at City University. She was the most wonderful teacher and inspiration a budding journalist could ask for – I’ll never forget her withering look at my silly errors and inability to know what a story is.”

Adrian Monck, former head of the journalism department, described Melanie as “a devoted and much-loved teacher”.

Matters of social justice, and the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, were burning issues for her. The publications she wrote for included the Sunday Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Cosmopolitan, and Marie Claire. She was an agony aunt, with a column ‘Dear Melanie’ in Just Seventeen magazine from its launch in 1983 until 1986.