The media are getting a bad press at the moment and with some justification. The periodic vilification of social workers and the demonising of young people are now coming under increasing criticism from us journalists.
At Community Care, we have launched the Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign to try to end the predictable press witch-hunt that too often leads to a social services department when a child dies in tragic circumstances.
I was half-expecting the Sun's splash headline this morning to shout "It was the social worker what done it". Luckily, an earth-shattering story about a football manager allegedy caught in a scuffle came to the rescue and the main coverage of Laming's latest report was placed inside.
However, the double-page spread provided the space for The Sun to parade some of their rabble-rousing front pages, "Blood on their hands" being the headline of just one.
Women in Journalism has also had enough, this time on the treatment of young people in some sections of the media.
Research commissioned by the group found that media portrayal of teenage boys had made them wary of their peers.
The study found that about half of the stories about teenage boys in the press in the past year had been about crime, with the words "yobs" and "thugs" favourite descriptions.
The only time coverage was sympathetic was when a tragedy occurred. In these instances, the teenagers were "model students" and "angels".
All this leads me to conclude that we in the media should also take a long, hard look at ourselves. We hope that the Stand Up Now for Social Work campaign is a start.
To paraphrase Laming, let's do it.
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