A blog post by my good friend Trevor Silvester prompted me to do something I’ve never really done before… I made a representation to the Leveson Enquiry into the Culture, Practice and Ethics of the Press about the influence the Press has on our society.

You see, as human beings, we are influenced by the ‘opinion of the crowd’ – a concept known as social proof – as well as the ‘opinion of an authority’ – known as conformity.

This has been shown in numerous studies into human behaviour, such as the eye opening work of Stanley Milgram, Solomon Asch, Robert Cialdini and others.

Social conformity can be so strong that a widely publicised suicide can even lead to a spate of copycat suicides (known as the Werther effect).

The tendency is for people to unconsciously match to the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours of the perceived social norm.

In other words, we have a natural tendency to become what we perceive as being ‘normal’.

For example, as the city of New York showed under Major Rudy Giuliani, by removing the environmental cues which suggest lawlessness is the norm (such as littering, graffiti, fare evasion etc), both petty and serious crime rates started to fall (something known as ‘Broken Window Theory‘).

The Press, by nature, have an unavoidable influence on the perception of social norms which puts them in a unique position of influence and responsibility.

They argue that being free allows them to present news that is in the public interest.

But what is really in the nation’s best interests?

• Is it the usual steady diet of bad news, depressing forecasts, murder, sleaze, despair and fear? The things which feed the darker side of human nature and curiosity.
• Or is it the different kind of press coverage we experienced over the Olympic period? The things which showed the true spirit of human beings: striving, succeeding, failing, learning, volunteering, supporting, working together, being connected to each other.

I agree with Trevor that the dramatic change in the mood of the country over the Olympic period was largely due to the shift in focus from the former to latter type of news reporting.

The Press will argue that “good news doesn’t sell” – and that may well be true – so my personal opinion is that the Press cannot be responsible for ensuring that news is in the public interest.

After all, they are there to meet the obligations of the shareholders.

If I were Lord Leveson, I would mandate a balance in the stories reported. For each column inch or TV minute of ‘bad news’ there should be an equal amount of ‘good news’ – stories which inspire the nation towards a social norm in which people can follow their passion, strive and enjoy success, where people are encouraged to learn from their failures, help their neighbours and support their community.

Without oversight on the social norms created by the media, I fear the Press will continue to lead the public back into a norm of fear rather than helping to ‘inspire a generation’.

But regardless of whether my comments make any difference to the outcome of the enquiry and the conduct of the Press, we each have the power to choose what we watch and read.

So be your own ‘Leveson Enquiry’… provide your own balance of good and bad news. Go and seek out the stories that inspire you, that touch your heart, that make you proud to be a human being.

Your life will be all the richer for it.