An Armchair view of the Archbishop!

It may be my natural cynicism, but as I sit in my chair and watch the news, I am ever more amazed at the sloppy journalism that I witness almost every day.

Only a few nights ago, the Archbishop of Canterbury was in trouble for having dared to open a discussion on whether aspects of Sharia law should be incorporated into English and Welsh law to ensure that our laws reflect the beliefs of the multicultural nation we have become.

But on the BBC news, the storied varied from what was actually said to in the headlines of one report that he had.... "called for the introduction of Sharia law in Britain."

That headline was untrue and was a blatant sensationalism of the facts in order to get a reaction from the audience.

20 years ago before Margaret Thatcher's 1990 Broadcasting Act introduced competition into broadcasting, sweeping away effective regulation of broadcasting standards and slashing programme budgets, the need for accuracy was paramount.

Sadly that is no longer the case. It seems that politicians who for their own political purposes, threw the editorial standards baby out with the bathwater, are left with a system in which accuracy no longer matters.

These days it's all about ratings and one suspects that such an approach has much potential for inflaming anger and reaction on the streets.

If and when it happens, politicians have only themselves to blame.