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As The British Press Sells Its Soul To The Devil, We Go Behind The Scenes Of One Newspaper

Adam Lovejoy writes: Pardon me for asking, but what the hell is wrong with the British press these days? OK, so it’s sold its soul to the forces of darkness, Peter Mandelson, Labour and the banker boys, but at least it could have continued to pretend to be impartial and objective, like it did in the past. You know, freedom of speech, democracy, the fifth estate, blah, blah, blah. But no, these days British hacks are selling themselves big time, without even bothering to conceal that they are sucking Labour’s private parts, if you pardon the expression, and enjoying it. Street cred out of the window, obviously. No one cares anymore that people laugh at them and call them names like ‘cocksuckers’ and ‘wankers’ and ‘pay-per-view-hackies’. It’s now all about money and book deals... 

Political Correctness Is Cool And Sexy, BBC Says. Plus It Helps Us Make Better Programmes

Anton Goryunov writes: Leaked documents reveal that the British Broadcasting Corporation has been using sophisticated techniques to hire people who hold politically correct views. According to a confidential internal memo, political correctness has been regarded by the top brass at the Corporation as an important component of its success. ‘PC is cool and helps us make better programmes,’ the memo says, pointing out that such jewels as the new look multicultural Eastenders, Gavin and Stacey, Little Britain, the new Doctor Who and Mock The Week would have never been made possible if not for PC. The document goes on to say: ‘Political correctness is soothing and comforting for anyone who likes that sort of thing. It is cuddly, sexy, non-intrusive and it gives us so much artistic freedom... 

Of Stating The Bleeding Obvious: Imagining Things That Could Have Happened

R.F.Wilson writes: Could it be, folks, that the media has secretly conspired to stating the bleeding obvious, over and over again, while flooding us with useless, irrelevant facts and figures, and ignoring anything remotely serious. For fear of upsetting mainstream readers and viewers.Imagine that a secret international conference of top hacks took place somewhere in the Bahamas, sponsored by media friendly banks and corporations, and it was decided there that it would be a good idea to play down the devastating economic crisis that the money men had brought on us. To avoid the mass panic that has been known to grip the world in the 1930s, when some irresponsible media outlets actually revealed the true scale of the disaster. The coverage of the current crisis in the US has been downplayed... 

Setting The Record Straight On Religion And Democracy

I sometimes wonder whether some newspaper columnists in Britain actually know what they are writing about. Melanie Phillips, of the Daily Mail, is one of these scribblers who often takes on subjects that are simply above her level of expertise. She often creates an impression that she feels passionately about religion and faith and the moral high ground generally. Unfortunately, religion is one of the subjects that are not really Ms Phillips’ strong point. There she was, writing in the Mail recently about the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, accusing the British government of making life difficult for Christians. It is a fair point in itself, but Ms Phillips has demonstrated serious ignorance of the subject. So I took the time to write to her and below I include the email that... 

Checked On Someone Who Died Of Abuse Some Years Ago. Nope, He’s Still Dead

Well, there you have it: a long-time friend of mine, who had died three years ago of mistreatment and abuse, is still dead. No signs of life at all. Confused, bewildered? OK, time to reveal what it is I’m talking about: it so happened that I was passing a tiny newsagent – I only purchase the organs of print in small outlets – and somehow my glance stopped on the Christmas double issue of the The Spectator magazine, selling at an extortionate price of £4.95. It was a glossy issue, with the leaders of the three main political parties in Britain – Gordon Brown of Labour, David Cameron of the Conservatives and Nick Clegg of Liberal Democrats – drawn as turkeys, with their tails showing their party colours: red, blue and yellow. I picked up the Christmas issue. I... 

Of Dogs And Lamp Posts. And Journalists And Politicians

There is no way that elected politicians, of any rank, should be allowed to be newspaper columnists or write articles on a regular basis in newspapers. Absolutely no way this should be allowed! Any qualified journalist would tell you that a proper relationship between the media and politicians should always resemble a relationship between a dog and lamp post: as in the dog urinating on the lamp post. Dogs do not lick lamp posts, or jump around them with joy, or marvel at the light that comes from them, or sleep beside them. When they see a lamp post they approach it, sniff it with suspicion and then leave their mark on it. And then proceed on. That is why every trainee reporter in the past had been told about one of the most important rules of journalism: you never get too friendly with politicians.... 

Lou Dobbs Walks From CNN. But The Real Issue Is Not About Him At All

Thomas Mathew writes: There’s been a lot of talk in the news about one of CNN’s presenters, Lou Dobbs, resigning from the station in a rather dramatic fashion: he announced his resignation and walked out practically immediately. As usual, all the easily excitable people began to speculate about the reasons why Mr Dobbs parted his way with CNN, although, to be quite honest, it did not really constitute a big story, from whichever point you looked at it. Especially considering that CNN is not the sort of news channel that any longer makes big waves in the broadcasting world. I would even go as far as saying that a change of news presenters on the box is no big deal generally, simply because they disappear as quickly as yesterday’s snow and soon the so-called fans and admirers... 

A Passionate Defence Of The BBC. And Of Its Hard Working Executives

  Adam Lovejoy writes: I would like to voice my defence of the BBC and the wonderful and talented people who run it, including its Director General, Mark Thompson, and all of his deputies and senior executives. A vicious campaign has been unleashed against these fine people by some sections of the media, accusing them of receiving huge salaries, as if they do not deliver for the money they are getting. So what if the top 37 BBC executives earn more than the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. What has Mr Brown done for the country, compared to the tireless work that these people at the BBC carry out? Just let me give you some examples of what the hard working executives at the BBC, earn so that you will understand better why I am so angry with hacks who are having a go at them for supposedly... 

Repeat Of The Open Letter To John Bird Of The Big Issue

Some time ago, last year actually, we posted an open letter to the editor of The Big Issue magazine, John Bird, calling on him to improve the quality of his publication, becasue we felt that the people who were benefitting from it – the homeless – deserved better. Having spoken to some sellers of the Big Issue recently we found out that the quality of the publication has not really improved very much. In fact, as one homeless man who sells the magazine told us he never reads it because there’s nothing in it of any interest. That is why we decided to repeat the open letter that had appeared here last year. Dear Sir, I have been buying The Big Issue for quite some time now, but it was only recently that I actually started reading it. Yes, not just buying for the sake of helping... 

TV Shows Have Nothing To Do With News. Nothing At All

It’s this time of year again: we are going through the silly period, with the British newspapers gradually becoming obsessed with covering TV competitions, as if these shows are worthy news items. Day in day out tabloids feed their readers with all sorts of rubbishy accounts of what is happening on the X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing. And it gets worse: serious newspapers that supposedly exist to bring readers exclusive stories, investigative reports and in-depth analysis devote huge articles to the two shows mentioned above. Already some newspapers started putting stories about Strictly Come Dancing on their first pages. And some of the non-entities who will be torturing audiences with their terrible singing on the X-Factor are already promoted as huge new stars. We, at StirringTroubleInternationally,... 

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