Last month BBC business editor Robert Peston was hauled before the Commons treasury select committee. He was asked whether he thought his reporting had contributed to the crisis in the financial system and ultimately the recession by being overly negative. After some deliberation, Peston answered in his familiar drawl, “nooooo”. He said that he “dealt in facts” and, more or less, if the facts were bad that was that. But one of the MPs quizzing him said it wasn’t the facts they were disputing so much as the doom-laden tone they were delivered in.
It’s difficult to quantify, but many agree that the tone of the media has helped set the mood of the country and persuaded people to batten down the hatches even tighter than they would have done.
Last week TTJ was lumped in with the negative elements of the press over what some saw as an overly downbeat plywood market report. It did make pretty bleak reading and in retrospect, I acknowledge, to balance the picture we might have added comments from a birch plywood supplier to the furniture and toy sectors who recently told me that business was holding up well.
We aim to deal in facts in our coverage too, so can’t avoid the bad news, but we do generally try for an all-round perspective and actively seek out positive stories, which, let’s face it, in the current climate, are probably the most newsworthy stories of all. So whenever you have developments that could lift the mood of the industry, let us know.
Which brings me on to the latest edition of Ecobuild. Despite the recession, the green building show broke all records. Exhibitor numbers were up from 500 to 800 and the final tally for visitors was 34,000, a rise of over 30% on 2008. Representation from the timber and timber frame industries was also up, with show boss David Wood saying that its inaugural Timber Works section was very positively received and will be repeated in 2010. More than ever, the event highlighted that timber is at the heart of the UK’s drive to sustainable development and construction. Not even Robert Peston could pick the bad news out of that.
