There's an old story about the journalist who invariably got the answer he wanted. His interview technique was brutal and effective.

The sole question to his hapless victim was: "Minister, (or councillor, or vicar, depending on which version you hear) what have you got to hide?

I was reminded of this story this week, when I was interviewed at the police consultation meeting I was chairing in Middlesbrough. The question - or statement - put to me was: "There are a lot of frightened people in this room aren't there?"

Now, I am the last person to play down the profound effect which crime, fear of crime and anti-social behaviour has on the lives of people in Middlesbrough and elsewhere. It is public issue number one.

But there were many other ways I would have described the people who had given up their evening to help us tackle these problems: public spirited, committed, resilient, to name a few. Concerned about their neighbourhoods and families certainly. But frightened, I doubt it. They're better than that.

It is convenient to see people as victims or villains, but life is more complex. We have a media - particularly at national level - which deals in extremes, where every issue is seen in bold primaries, not the shades of grey which we all know colour real life.

This has its funny side. For example, open any newspaper any day and you would think the whole nation was permanently on angry pills. We're always fuming, furious, raging and red-faced. Often about quite trivial matters, too.

Now I know that "Resident mildly irritated by officialdom" isn't the stuff of banner headlines, but it might be a more accurate reflection of the truth. There's a serious side to this too. Mix the media's habit of polarising issues with the Government's obsession with control and you have the twin engine which drives the spin cycle.

Recent events have revealed not just the profound distrust between media and government, but an equally disturbing cynicism about the way that news is made - or should that be manufactured?

We are rapidly getting to the situation where the media's inclination to disbelieve every word from authority is matched by the public's refusal to believe a word it writes or broadcasts. That isn't healthy scepticism, the cold bath that all public figures should regularly be dunked in. It is an increasingly acidic and destructive cynicism which is corroding public life.

We should never go back to the days when interviewers treated anyone with a whiff of power with cap-doffing deference. But equally, we need to move away from the trend where every interview turns into a third degree, where success is measured by the number of heads that roll and/or the resignations that are signed.

Published: 12/09/2003