Politicians aren't exactly flavour of the month, but there is a profession even more deserving of opprobrium. If journalists had been doing their jobs, the country might well be in a better position than it is. It's all very well for financial commentators like Evan Davis and Robert Peston to patiently explain the credit crunch, but we should have been warned years ago about the consequences of unbridled greed.

Greed is the cause of MPs' current plight, and it's also the root cause for the collapse in our economy. Goods are manufactured cheaply in countries where workers have few rights and little pay. All this helped to bring in bigger profits for shareholders, and so the 'economy' appeared to grow. Journalists should have warned us about the 'bonus culture,' but BBC management was party to this greed.

Good journalists are good for Britain. One of the best, who incidentally started his career on Newsround, is Krishnan Guru-Murthy. On Channel 4 News last night Krishnan asked a newly elected BNP Euro MP: Do you think that the impact of all immigrants and their descendants has been bad, or do you think that some of us are OK?

More on journalists and editorial independence shortly.