What Is The Point Of Private Eye? The Magazine Lost Its Sense Of Direction Long Ago.

July 13, 2009

What is exactly the point of Private Eye, the supposedly satirical current affairs magazine? The one that is printed on cheap paper and has photos on the front cover with silly headings at the top and even sillier texts inserted into the bubbles? The title, Private Eye, is supposed to imply that it is edgy, investigative and controversial. And many years ago, in pre-Labour times, it had been exactly that. And that was why it got sued on a regular basis, by all sorts of people. But things have changed now: PI is very timid, it is politically correct and it is overly cautious. In fact, it does not really deliver what it says on the tin, or, in this case, what it says on the cover: it fails to investigate and ridicule and offend people who deserve to be ridiculed and offended – politicians,...

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Category: Media
Tags: Ian Hislop, Paul Merton, Private Eye