Gavin Esler Quotes
Privacy is dead. We live in a world of instantaneous, globalised gossip. The idea that there is a 'private' sphere and a 'public' sphere for world leaders, politicians or anyone in the public eye is slowly disintegrating. The death of privacy will have a profound effect on who our leaders will be in the future.
Esler, Gavin. Lessons from the Top: How Successful Leaders Tell Stories That Make You Want to Follow Them. Profile Books, 2012.
In 2007 a new phenomenon appeared on the political scene where people who had taken amateur videos of politicians with inexpensive cameras or even cell phones began to “publish” them on a video web site called “U-Tube” which allowed anyone to do this for free. Suddenly the potentially or actually embarrassing video was not only able to be viewed by millions but via e-mail millions more were made aware of the video’s existence. In 24 hours an embarrassing video had more viewers then would see it on the national evening news. Brody was the first person to give it a name and warn politicians about the problem—The U-Tube Moment.
Gavin William James Esler is a Scottish journalist, television presenter and author. He was a main presenter on BBC Two's flagship political analysis programme, Newsnight, from January 2003 until January 2014, and presenter of BBC News at Five on the BBC News Channel. Since 2014 he has served as the Chancellor of the University of Kent. On 11 March 2017, Esler confirmed via his Twitter profile that he would be leaving the BBC at the end of the month to concentrate on his writing activities. He returned to the BBC later that year as host of Talking Books.
