We Can Do Better

2012: The Newsroom - Sorkin

I wonder if you have come across a new television show called “The Newsroom” beng shown on Tuesday night on Sky Atlantic. The main creative writer is Aaron Sorkin who wrote The West Wing, amongst others. The first episode was a fairly fast moving story, establishing characters and building on a familiar global news story – the BP Deepwater oil rig disaster. As the viewer we have the advantage of hindsight, quite a clever approach for a first episode.

I enjoyed the drama and it felt very familiar, yet new. The backdrop is a desire for a better world and in particular better Government and better governance, something that is a Sorkin legacy from The West Wing. This is of course rather timely, given the lack of good governance being displayed by various “key players” within financial services and in particular the banking community. There is a very palpable sense of annoyance with Bankers in the country at the moment – indeed with regulators and Government too. Everyone has an opinion. What is evident is that “we” can and must do better. So it is good news that my professional body the Institute of Financial Planning is getting involved in “The Question of Trust” campaign which aims to advocate good practice and genuinely listen to those with suggestions about how to rebuild trust. I’m also getting involved and if you have any bright ideas do let me know. The same of course is true for the general state of journalism in Britain which is currently still under investigation. It is perhaps a little ironic in this Jubliee year, that with so much flag waving, we still need to give considerable thought to what exactly are our collective British values. I believe that we can do better. Oh and here's a clip.