From journalists to government advisers

Sir, – Justine McCarthy’s wonderfully incisive article on the cosy relationships between politicians and some journalists in this country echoes the thoughts of many of your readers (“Distorted view of media not helped by exodus of journalists into government pay”, Opinion & Analysis, April 26th). I suppose that, because we live in a small country, this perceived cosiness and, in some cases, a lack of objective journalism are inevitable due to the fact that the politicians, despite the availability of very qualified and very able civil servants, are permitted to appoint “friendly” journalists as their special advisers on huge salaries.

One possible answer to this problem is that, prior to crossing the bridge into jobs in politics, journalists should be forced to take three months of gardening leave prior to taking up their special advisory role.

This would enable the electorate to separate the existing blurred lines when one day a journalist can be writing for a reputable national newspaper and the next day may be contacting that same newspaper putting forward not their views, but the views of their new political master. – Yours, etc,

CHARLES SMYTH,