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When I was a F/T news reporter, I would sometimes gauge interest in a story by seeing what all my non-journo friends and family were saying on FB and on Whatsapp groups. Most of them are nurses, teachers, charity workers or work for local councils or in manual jobs etc.
Obviously it was just a snapshot but they aren't all alike and have differing political views (some voted for Brexit for example) but it would sometimes help me when I was in the morning news meeting having to justify my ideas or discuss why a story still had legs.
Sometimes I would even ask 'what do you think of that story in the news?' If they ever said they didn't know what I was talking about I knew not to bother pitching another follow-up. On this Cummings story, it's been overwhelming how angry people are ...
I know people who have cried over it. I think as one of the journalists suggested the gov misjudged the public mood & I think it's really important to keep checking back in rather than assuming the public are over it now.
The job of the journalists working on this story really is to hold power to account. The story is important because it comes at a time when it is so crucial that the public trust in the guidance they are being given as lockdown continues to ease ...
Regardless of DC and what you think of him, there is still is a public health crisis. What if we get a second peak and have to go back into lockdown? How will the government implement it when they don't trust them?
