A note from our Editor-in-Chief:
Thank you for subscribing to Zeteo UK. We are still in soft-launch mode till September as we finish recruiting our team, but given the craziness of the British news cycle right now, we will be publishing stories and op-eds on a semi-regular basis between now and then. Please do become a paid subscriber today so you can read and watch all of our Zeteo UK original content without hitting a paywall – and also so you can help fund independent journalism in Britain. - Mehdi Hasan
A son who moves countries to be closer to his ageing father and heal a ruptured relationship. A woman who has to juggle the needs of her family and the “stop-start” demands of a career in the creative industries. Parents who want to give their children the best educational start in life. For good reason, these “human interest” stories are the meat and drink of feature writers and talk radio – from LBC to BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. They rhyme with our own lives; they pluck at our heartstrings, creating a connection.
Except in the case of one couple – Harry and Meghan. The news that they are returning to the UK has generated substantial coverage, much of it speculative about the “real reason” for their homecoming, or crowing over the reaction of the British public, 33% of whom think they should stay away. The public hostility to the couple is hardly surprising given past reporting in legacy print and digital media, which breaks down brutally: half of it was negative or critical, a third neutral, and only the remaining sixth positive. Traditionally, the royal family have driven press coverage in Britain, sometimes in the public interest – as in the cases of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor or the long debate about the cost of the monarchy – and at other times in a “soap opera” form, but the central characters have always been the main ones – members of the royal family, not “retirees”.
Today’s situation is very different.