David Puttnam: What happens when the media's priority is profit?

Prevoditelj: Davorin Jelačić Recezent: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

I'd like to start, if I may,

Ako smijem, počeo bih

with the story of the Paisley snail.

s pričom o pužu iz Paisleya.

On the evening of the 26th of August, 1928,

Uvečer 26. kolovoza 1928.,

May Donoghue took a train from Glasgow

May Donoghue je pošla vlakom iz Glasgowa

to the town of Paisley, seven miles east of the city,

za gradić Paisley, 11 kilometara od grada,

and there at the Wellmeadow Café,

i ondje je u kafiću Wellmeadow Café,

she had a Scots ice cream float,

pojela Scots sladoledni kup,

a mix of ice cream and ginger beer

mješavinu sladoleda i piva od đumbira

bought for her by a friend.

kojom ju je častio prijatelj.

The ginger beer came in a brown, opaque bottle

Đumbirovo pivo je bilo u smeđoj, neprozirnoj boci

labeled "D. Stevenson, Glen Lane, Paisley."

s natpisom "D. Stevenson, Glen Lane, Paisley."

She drank some of the ice cream float,

Popila je nešto sladoleda,

but as the remaining ginger beer was poured

ali dok se đumbirovo pivo nalijevalo

into her tumbler,

u njezinu čašu,

a decomposed snail

poluraspadnuti puž

floated to the surface of her glass.

je isplutao na površinu čaše.

Three days later, she was admitted

Tri dana kasnije, primljena je

to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary

u bolnicu Glasgow Royal Infirmary

and diagnosed with severe gastroenteritis

s dijagnozom ozbiljnog gastroenteritisa

and shock.

i šoka.

The case of Donoghue vs. Stevenson that followed

Proces Donoghue protiv Stevensona koji je uslijedio

set a very important legal precedent:

postavio je važan pravni presedan:

Stevenson, the manufacturer of the ginger beer,

Smatralo se da je Stevenson, proizvođač đumbirovog piva,

was held to have a clear duty of care

imao jasnu obvezu dužne pažnje

towards May Donoghue,

spram May Donoghue,

even though there was no contract between them,

premda nije bilo ugovora među njima,

and, indeed, she hadn't even bought the drink.

a ona, zapravo, i nije kupila piće.

One of the judges, Lord Atkin, described it like this:

Jedan od sudaca, Lord Atkin, opisao je to ovako:

You must take care to avoid acts or omissions

Morate se pobrinuti da izbjegnete činidbe ili propuste činjenja

which you can reasonably foresee

za koje se razumno može predvidjeti

would be likely to injure your neighbor.

da postoji vjerojatnost da će naškoditi bližnjemu.

Indeed, one wonders that without a duty of care,

Zaista, možemo se zapitati koliko bi ljudi,

how many people would have had to suffer

bez dužne pažnje, moralo trpjeti

from gastroenteritis before Stevenson eventually went out of business.

od gastroenteritisa prije nego što bi Stevenson napokon morao izaći iz tog posla.

Now please hang on to that Paisley snail story,

Upamtite priču o pužu iz Paisleya,

because it's an important principle.

jer je riječ o važnom načelu.

Last year, the Hansard Society, a nonpartisan charity

Prošle godine, Hansard Society, neovisno dobrotvorno društvo

which seeks to strengthen parliamentary democracy

koje nastoji ojačati parlamentarnu demokraciju

and encourage greater public involvement in politics

i ohrabriti jače sudjelovanje javnosti u politici,

published, alongside their annual audit

objavilo je, uz svoje godišnje izvješće

of political engagement, an additional section

o političkom angažmanu, dodatak

devoted entirely to politics and the media.

posvećen u cijelosti politici i medijima.

Here are a couple of rather depressing observations

Evo nekoliko prilično depresivnih nalaza

from that survey.

iz tog istraživanja.

Tabloid newspapers do not appear

Ne izgleda da tabloidi

to advance the political citizenship of their readers,

izgrađuju politički svjesnije čitatelje,

relative even to those

čak ni u usporedbi s onima

who read no newspapers whatsoever.

koji uopće ne čitaju novine.

Tabloid-only readers are twice as likely to agree

Čitatelji koji čitaju samo tabloide dvostruko su skloniji

with a negative view of politics

gledati negativno na politiku

than readers of no newspapers.

od onih koji uopće ne čitaju novine.

They're not just less politically engaged.

Oni nisu samo manje politički angažirani.

They are consuming media that reinforces

Oni su potrošači medija koji pojačavaju

their negative evaluation of politics,

njihov negativan stav o politici

thereby contributing to a fatalistic and cynical

i time doprinose fatalističkom i ciničnom stavu

attitude to democracy and their own role within it.

prema demokraciji i njihovoj vlastitoj ulozi u njoj.

Little wonder that the report concluded that

Nije ni čudo da je izvješće zaključilo da

in this respect, the press, particularly the tabloids,

u tom pogledu tisak, naročito tabloidi,

appear not to be living up to the importance

nisu dorasli važnosti

of their role in our democracy.

njihove uloge u demokraciji.

Now I doubt if anyone in this room would seriously

Sumnjam da bi itko u ovoj prostoriji

challenge that view.

ozbiljno osporio to gledište.

But if Hansard are right, and they usually are,

Ali ako su u Hansardu u pravu, a obično jesu,

then we've got a very serious problem on our hands,

tada smo suočeni s vrlo ozbiljnim problemom,

and it's one that I'd like to spend the next 10 minutes

i na njega bih se htio usredotočiti

focusing upon.

u narednih 10 minuta.

Since the Paisley snail,

Od slučaja puža u Paisleyu,

and especially over the past decade or so,

a naročito u posljednjem desetljeću,

a great deal of thinking has been developed

mnogo se razmišljanja posvetilo

around the notion of a duty of care

pojmu dužne pažnje,

as it relates to a number of aspects of civil society.

jer se on odnosi na brojne aspekte građanskog društva.

Generally a duty of care arises when one individual

Općenito, dužna pažnja je važna kada pojedinac

or a group of individuals undertakes an activity

ili skupina poduzima aktivnost

which has the potential to cause harm to another,

koja ima potencijal naškoditi drugome,

either physically, mentally or economically.

fizički, mentalno ili ekonomski.

This is principally focused on obvious areas,

Ona je prvenstveno usmjerena na očigledna područja,

such as our empathetic response to children and young people,

kao što je naša empatična reakcija na djecu i mlade,

to our service personnel, and to the elderly and infirm.

na uslužno osoblje i na starije i slabe.

It is seldom, if ever, extended to equally important arguments

Rijetko se, ako ikada, primjenjuje na jednako važno područje

around the fragility of our present system of government,

krhkosti našeg sadašnjeg sustava upravljanja,

to the notion that honesty, accuracy and impartiality

ideju da su poštenje, točnost i nepristranost

are fundamental to the process of building

fundamentalne za proces izgradnje

and embedding an informed,

i zaokruživanja informirane,

participatory democracy.

participativne demokracije.

And the more you think about it,

Što više o tome mislite,

the stranger that is.

to izgleda čudnije.

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure

Prije nekoliko godina, imao sam zadovoljstvo

of opening a brand new school

otvoriti posve novu školu

in the northeast of England.

na sjeveroistoku Engleske.

It had been renamed by its pupils as Academy 360.

Učenici su je nazvali Akademija 360.

As I walked through their impressive,

Dok sam prolazio kroz impresivni,

glass-covered atrium,

zastakljeni atrij škole,

in front of me, emblazoned on the wall

preda mnom, na zidu je pisalo,

in letters of fire

vatrenim slovima,

was Marcus Aurelius's famous injunction:

slavna uputa Marka Aurelija:

If it's not true, don't say it;

Ako nije istina, ne reci;

if it's not right, don't do it.

ako nije ispravno, ne čini.

The head teacher saw me staring at it,

Glavni učitelj je primijetio da zurim u to,

and he said, "Oh, that's our school motto."

i rekao, "O, to je moto naše škole."

On the train back to London,

Vraćajući se vlakom za London,

I couldn't get it out of my mind.

nisam natpis mogao izbaciti iz glave.

I kept thinking, can it really have taken us

Razmišljao sam, zar nam je zaista trebalo

over 2,000 years to come to terms

više od 2.000 godina da usvojimo

with that simple notion

tu jednostavnu ideju

as being our minimum expectation of each other?

kao minimum koji očekujemo jedni od drugih?

Isn't it time that we develop this concept

Nije li vrijeme da razvijemo koncept

of a duty of care

dužne pažnje

and extended it to include a care

i proširimo ga da obuhvati

for our shared but increasingly endangered democratic values?

i demokratske vrijednosti koje dijelimo ali su sve ugroženije?

After all, the absence of a duty of care

Napokon, pomanjkanje dužne pažnje

within many professions

u mnogim zanimanjima

can all too easily amount to accusations of negligence,

može lako dovesti do optužbi za nemar,

and that being the case, can we be really comfortable with the thought

i kada je tako, možemo li zaista spokojno prihvatiti pomisao

that we're in effect being negligent

da smo zapravo nemarni

in respect of the health of our own societies

prema zdravlju naših društava

and the values that necessarily underpin them?

i vrijednosti koje ih nužno drže na okupu?

Could anyone honestly suggest, on the evidence,

Može li itko pošteno sugerirati, na temelju dokaza,

that the same media which Hansard so roundly condemned

da su mediji koje je Hansard tako zbirno osudio

have taken sufficient care to avoid behaving

postupali s dužnom pažnjom kako bi izbjegli

in ways which they could reasonably have foreseen

sve postupke za koje su razumno mogli predvidjeti

would be likely to undermine or even damage

da će potkopati ili naškoditi

our inherently fragile democratic settlement.

našem inherentno krhkom demokratskom ustroju.

Now there will be those who will argue

Ima onih koji će tvrditi

that this could all too easily drift into a form

da se ovo lako može preokrenutiu neki oblik

of censorship, albeit self-censorship,

cenzure, možda samo-cenzure,

but I don't buy that argument.

ali ja ne prihvaćam taj argument.

It has to be possible

Mora biti moguće

to balance freedom of expression

postići ravnotežu između slobode izražavanja

with wider moral and social responsibilities.

i šire moralne i društvene odgovornosti.

Let me explain why by taking the example

Dopustite mi da objasnim na primjeru

from my own career as a filmmaker.

moje vlastite filmske karijere.

Throughout that career, I never accepted

U svojoj karijeri, nikad nisam prihvatio

that a filmmaker should set about putting

da bi filmaš ikada trebao izići

their own work outside or above what he or she

sa svojim djelom izvan ili iznad onoga što smatra

believed to be a decent set of values

pristojnim sustavom vrijednosti

for their own life, their own family,

u svom životu, za svoju obitelj,

and the future of the society in which we all live.

i za budućnost društva u kojem živi.

I'd go further.

Idem i dalje.

A responsible filmmaker should never devalue their work

Odgovorni filmski stvaralac ne treba nikada obezvrijediti svoj rad

to a point at which it becomes less than true

do mjere u kojoj taj više ne govori istinu

to the world they themselves wish to inhabit.

o svijetu u kojem bi on želio živjeti.

As I see it, filmmakers, journalists, even bloggers

Po meni, filmaši, novinari, čak i blogeri,

are all required to face up to the social expectations

moraju se uzdići do društvenih očekivanja

that come with combining the intrinsic power of their medium

koja proizlaze iz kombinacije suštinske moći njihovog medija

with their well-honed professional skills.

i njihovih profesionalnih vještina.

Obviously this is not a mandated duty,

Očigledno, to nije propisana dužnost,

but for the gifted filmmaker and the responsible journalist

ali mislim da nadareni filmaš i odgovorni novinar,

or even blogger, it strikes me as being utterly inescapable.

čak i bloger, ne mogu izbjeći postupati na takav način.

We should always remember that our notion

Ne smijemo zaboraviti da je naš pojam

of individual freedom and its partner, creative freedom,

osobne slobode i njene partnerice, kreativne slobode,

is comparatively new

relativno nov

in the history of Western ideas,

u povijesti zapadne misli,

and for that reason, it's often undervalued

i zato je često podcijenjen

and can be very quickly undermined.

i može ga se lako podrovati.

It's a prize easily lost,

Tu nagradu možemo lako izgubiti,

and once lost, once surrendered,

a kad je jednom izgubimo, predamo,

it can prove very, very hard to reclaim.

možda ćemo je vrlo, vrlo teško povratiti.

And its first line of defense

Prva linija obrane

has to be our own standards,

moraju biti naši vlastiti standardi,

not those enforced on us by a censor or legislation,

ne oni na koje nas sile cenzura ili propisi,

our own standards and our own integrity.

naši standardi i naš integritet.

Our integrity as we deal with those

Naš integritet u postupanju

with whom we work

sa svojim suradnicima

and our own standards as we operate within society.

i naši standardi kojih se držimo u društvu.

And these standards of ours

A ti standardi

need to be all of a piece with a sustainable social agenda.

moraju biti u skladu s održivim društvenim ciljevima.

They're part of a collective responsibility,

Oni su dio kolektivne odgovornosti,

the responsibility of the artist or the journalist

odgovornosti umjetnika ili novinara

to deal with the world as it really is,

u odnosu prema svijetu kakav on stvarno jest,

and this, in turn, must go hand in hand

što, također, mora biti usklađeno

with the responsibility of those governing society

s odgovornošću onih koji upravljaju društvom

to also face up to that world,

i koji će se uhvatiti u koštac s tim svijetom,

and not to be tempted to misappropriate

a ne podleći iskušenju i zloupotrijebiti

the causes of its ills.

uzroke svjetskih nevolja.

Yet, as has become strikingly clear

No, kako je postalo jasno

over the last couple of years,

u posljednjih nekoliko godina,

such responsibility has to a very great extent

velik se dio medija te odgovornosti

been abrogated by large sections of the media.

u značajnoj mjeri odrekao.

And as a consequence, across the Western world,

Posljedica je, da širom Zapadnog svijeta

the over-simplistic policies of the parties of protest

imamo pojednostavljene politike stranaka koje prosvjeduju

and their appeal to a largely disillusioned,

i privlače posvemašnje zavaranu,

older demographic,

stariju dobnu skupinu,

along with the apathy and obsession with the trivial

te imamo apatiju i zaokupljenost trivijalnostima

that typifies at least some of the young,

karakterističnu za barem dio mladih;

taken together, these and other similarly

uzete zajedno, ti i slični

contemporary aberrations

suvremeni poremećaji

are threatening to squeeze the life

prijete uništiti

out of active, informed debate and engagement,

aktivnu, informiranu debatu i angažiranost,

and I stress active.

pri čemu naglašavam - aktivnu.

The most ardent of libertarians might argue

Najzagriženiji libertini bi mogli tvrditi

that Donoghue v. Stevenson should have been thrown out of court

da je slučaj Donoghue protiv Stevensona trebao biti odbačen

and that Stevenson would eventually have gone out of business

i da bi Stevensonov posao naposlijetku propao

if he'd continued to sell ginger beer with snails in it.

da je nastavio prodavati đumbirovo pivo s plutajućim puževima.

But most of us, I think, accept some small role

Ali većina nas, mislim, prihvaća neku manju ulogu

for the state to enforce a duty of care,

države u provedbi obveze dužne pažnje,

and the key word here is reasonable.

a ključni pojam je u razumnoj mjeri.

Judges must ask, did they take reasonable care

Suci moraju pitati, je li se vodila briga u razumnoj mjeri

and could they have reasonably foreseen

i da li su se posljedice činjenja mogle predvidjeti

the consequences of their actions?

u razumnoj mjeri?

Far from signifying overbearing state power,

To ne znači preveliku moć države,

it's that small common sense test of reasonableness

već test zdravog razuma

that I'd like us to apply to those in the media

koji bih volio da primijenimo na medije

who, after all, set the tone and the content

koji, na koncu, daju i sadržaj i ton

for much of our democratic discourse.

mnogih naših demokratskih promišljanja.

Democracy, in order to work, requires that

Demokracija, da bi funkcionirala, zahtijeva da

reasonable men and women take the time to understand and debate

razumni muškarci i žene posvete vrijeme razumijevanju i raspravi

difficult, sometimes complex issues,

teških, katkada složenih pitanja,

and they do so in an atmosphere which strives

i da to čine u atmosferi koja omogućava

for the type of understanding that leads to,

onu vrstu razumijevanja koje vodi,

if not agreement, then at least a productive

ako ne slaganju, a ono barem k produktivnom

and workable compromise.

i ostvarivom kompromisu.

Politics is about choices,

U politici je riječ o izboru,

and within those choices, politics is about priorities.

a unutar izbora, riječ je o prioritetima.

It's about reconciling conflicting preferences

Treba uskladiti suprotstavljene preferencije,

wherever and whenever possibly based on fact.

kad god je moguće, na temelju činjenica.

But if the facts themselves are distorted,

Ali ako su same činjenice izobličene,

the resolutions are likely only to create further conflict,

rješenja će vjerojatno dovesti do novih sukoba,

with all the stresses and strains on society

sa svim pritiscima i napetostima u društvu

that inevitably follow.

koji tada neizostavno slijede.

The media have to decide:

Mediji moraju odlučiti:

Do they see their role as being to inflame

vide li svoju ulogu u tome da raspaljuju

or to inform?

ili da informiraju?

Because in the end, it comes down to a combination

Jer na koncu, sve se svodi na kombinaciju

of trust and leadership.

povjerenja i liderstva.

Fifty years ago this week, President John F. Kennedy

Prije pedeset godina, predsjednik John F. Kennedy

made two epoch-making speeches,

održao je dva povijesna govora,

the first on disarmament and the second on civil rights.

prvi o razoružanju, a drugi o građanskim pravima.

The first led almost immediately

Prvi je gotovo smjesta doveo do

to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,

Sporazuma o zabrani nuklearnih pokusa,

and the second led to the 1964 Civil Rights Act,

a drugi do Zakona o građanskim pravima iz 1964.

both of which represented giant leaps forward.

Oba su predstavljala silan napredak.

Democracy, well-led and well-informed,

Demokracija, s dobrim vodstvom i dostupnim informacijama,

can achieve very great things,

može postići velike stvari,

but there's a precondition.

ali postoji jedan preduvjet.

We have to trust that those making those decisions

Moramo vjerovati da oni koji donose odluke

are acting in the best interest not of themselves

ne djeluju u najboljem interesu sebe samih

but of the whole of the people.

već svih ljudi.

We need factually-based options,

Treba nam izbor utemeljen na činjenicama,

clearly laid out,

jasno obrazložen,

not those of a few powerful

ne izbor nekoliko moćnih

and potentially manipulative corporations

i potencijalno manipulativnih korporacija

pursuing their own frequently narrow agendas,

koji ostvaruju svoje, često uske, ciljeve,

but accurate, unprejudiced information

nego točne, objektivne informacije

with which to make our own judgments.

na temelju kojih ćemo donijeti vlastiti sud.

If we want to provide decent, fulfilling lives

Ako želimo dostojan, ispunjen život

for our children and our children's children,

za našu djecu i djecu naše djece,

we need to exercise to the very greatest degree possible

moramo u najvećoj mogućoj mjeri provoditi

that duty of care for a vibrant,

dužnu pažnju radi žive

and hopefully a lasting, democracy.

i nadam se trajne demokracije.

Thank you very much for listening to me.

Hvala što ste me saslušali.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)