[1]Cable & Wireless [2]UK News [3]Electronic Telegraph Friday 19 September 1997 Issue 847 [4]See text menu at bottom of page Internet 'putting truth in danger' By Alison Boshoff _________________________________________________________________ External Links [5][LINK] Safe Surf's Proposal for a Safe internet Without Censorship [6][LINK] Campaign for Internet Freedom [7][LINK] Conspiracy Theory - Publisher's Rant [8][LINK] Dimitry's Save the Conspiracy Theories Campaign [9][LINK] Conspiracy Theory Land [10][LINK] Disinformation [11][LINK] Make your own conspiracy theory - Turn Left _________________________________________________________________ THE generation that has grown up on The X-Files poses a threat to the future of journalism, Fergal Keane, the BBC's Asia Correspondent, said last night. Mr Keane, delivering the Huw Weldon Memorial Lecture at a television convention, said that he was worried about the growing influence of the Internet, and the conspiracy theories that are aired on it. He told the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention that the rash of rumours about the circumstances of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales showed that there was a public appetite for speculation and fantasy. He said: "Will the generation growing up on The X-Files really want to choose calm, considered reportage when they have science-fiction and fantasy?" He said that the trend threatened to plunge reporting into the "rumour-ridden gloom of the Middle Ages". Another danger, said Mr Keane, lay in the trend towards trivia and celebrity that was increasingly taking control of the journalistic agenda. He referred to the "beautiful airhead syndrome" and to stories about the "dumbing down of the BBC" but said that the corporation's rich history of quality reporting meant that it would not head in that direction. He said: "As someone who is neither pretty nor wise, I feel able to take the view that dumbing down will not happen at the BBC. If it did, it would desert the finest tradition of broadcasting professionalism in the world." Mr Keane said news organisations faced greater challenges than ever, with bigger and more diverse audiences who probably knew less about the world than their predecessors. He warned of a sacred journalistic duty to celebrate the truth. He said that there was a danger that some news organisations became little more than a "carnival of egos" because of a "star system" operating among their correspondents, and had to guard against employing anyone who was less than exceptional and less than dedicated. [12]3 December 1996: Conspiracy theories on the Internet [13]27 June 1997: Beware the Internet's first aid, say doctors _________________________________________________________________ Next report: [14]Sleepwalker survives 60ft fall _________________________________________________________________ [15]Front | [16]UK | [17]International | [18]City | [19]Sport | [20]Crossword | [21]Weather | [22]Matt | [23]Connected | [24]etcetera | [25]A-Z | [26]Archive | [27]Shopping | [28]Classified | [29]Help | © [30]Copyright Telegraph Group Limited 1997. [31]Terms & Conditions of reading. Information about [32]Telegraph Group Limited and [33]Electronic Telegraph. "Electronic Telegraph" and "The Daily Telegraph" are [34]trademarks of Telegraph Group Limited. These marks may not be copied or used without permission. Information for [35]webmasters linking to Electronic Telegraph. [36]Email Electronic Telegraph. 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