Yesterday, as I noted, Richard “Dirty” Desmond, who owns the increasingly downmarket and inaccurate Daily and Sunday Express, lost his libel action against author Tom Bower.
That’s right: he lost.
However, were you to read the Great Man’s take on the case, which the Express website has helpfully agreed to carry – remember, Desmond has said on oath that he doesn’t interfere with editorial decisions – you might be forgiven for concluding that he had won. But, as ever with this end of the Fourth Estate, the vigilance of the Tabloid Watch blog has picked up on this, shall we say, inconsistency.
Moreover, it’s inevitable that other readers of the Express site will also have picked up on the misleading tone of the article. But none of their comments have appeared, and none will be appearing.
Why so? A peek at the foot of the page explains:
“Have Your Say” is unavailable for this story
which, freely translated, means that “Dirty” Desmond’s word is final, although this is mere coincidence, and not an attempt to interfere editorially, or to stifle free dissenting speech.
Perish the thought!
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