November 02, 2012

Should I have been more careful my comments were more palatable to FT’s senior egos?

Sir, in “BoE’s self-criticism” November 11, you quote Bill Winters “gently” saying “[while junior staff] are often willing to challenge their superiors… there appears to be some tendency for them to filter recommendations in such a way as to maximize the likelihood that senior staff will find the recommendation palatable”. 

What is your own take on that? I myself have sent many recommendations and comments to you over the years and though I believe many of these were important different and should not have been ignored, but they were. Did I give too much credence to your motto “Without fear and without favour”? Should I have been more careful my letters and comments were more palatable to your senior egos and their friends? Do the egos have the right of blackballing? 

I mean should not FT’s commitment to truth be the same as the Bank of England’s? I mean, as a specialized media with a lot of readers, is not FT’s voice on critical issues as important or even more than BoE’s?