Is modern political discourse inferior to what has gone before? An NPR interview with Eric Burns on his book about lying journalists casts an intriguing light on this. In the mid-18th century, Samuel Johnson was hired to cover Parliament by a gentleman’s magazine, and paraphrased the words of politicians through knowledge of their opinions, rather than recording them verbatim – why? Because he rarely attended the sessions, apparently through a dislike of the outside. Burns claims that the politicians didn’t mind, as Johnson was so much more eloquent than they – so is what we see now simply less varnished? With the advent of BBC Parliament, C-Span and the like, and the constant pressure of the 24-hour news cycle?
Alas, the reality according to this thorough analysis is quite different – Johnson was not allowed to attend, nor were any reporters – although this doesn’t alter our point about the fictionalising, and possibly romanticising of political discourse from a golden age.
Johnson is a wonderful figure, in the metaphorical sense – read more on him from News Hour here, and see his house here.
News hour, with Jerry Caesar 