Does the spin of the press have more of an impact on public health than our doctors? What are the similarities between historians and journalists? What good can either of them do?

We look at the reporting of the 16th century plague and 1918 Spanish Flu in contrast with that of the current media response to Covid-19. Featuring:

Journalist James Toney, managing editor at Beat Media Group and News Associates, discussing the role of the current British media in holding the government response to account.
Cambridge historian Professor James Raven, on the 16th century Bills of Mortality.
The archivist-trainee at Gonville and Cauis College Cambridge, Rachel Perry Eichhorst.
And includes a conversation with the US lawyer Ken Starr (headed the investigation into the Clinton administration and served as Trump’s legal advisor during his impeachment trial). He pulls the two stories together with his musings on the difference between journalism and history.

Spin Doctors

Repeat PrescriptionBy Repeat PrescriptionNov 27, 2020