Leveson Still Under Attack

Hardly had I hit the Publish button on my previous post on the newly concerted attacks on the Leveson Inquiry than the assault was joined by the right leaning part of the blogosphere, in the inevitable shape of the perpetually thirsty Paul Staines and his tame gofer, the flannelled fool Henry Cole, at the Guido Fawkes blog. And this gives a whole new dynamic to the process.

What about me f***ing making up headlines, c***?!?

As Brian Cathcart noted, the entry into the fray of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre and his attack goons brought what he called “Operation Megaphone”, the forthright denunciation of Leveson which has also been joined by a number of Tory MPs, notably Michael “Oiky” Gove. This was, Cathcart observed, a thinly veiled attempt to stop any meaningful press reform in its tracks.

Hold the duck house!

So why is the Fawkes blog, where Staines has previously railed against a variety of press practices, including the lobby system and more recently the lack of convictions as a result of Operation Motorman, allowing itself to be used as a conduit for a number of organisations that couldn’t give the proverbial flying foxtrot about its proprietor, his staff, and indeed its existence?

Mainstream? Nah, just drink and snort

Ah well. Here enters yet another variant on the idea that “my enemy’s enemy is therefore my friend”. Staines has figured out that anything coming out of Leveson could affect his business model, which includes flogging information and photos to the supposedly hated MSM. So, even though there would be no effect on the blogosphere, a tank on the lawn of a revenue source is an attack on him too.

I'm a proper journalist, cos I'm on telly again!

This suits the Fourth Estate very nicely, especially as the Fawkes blog can indulge in the kind of headlines and pejorative language that the papers would not be able to get away with. So Leveson is deemed to have “lost it” merely by considering his response to the Mail On Sunday lead which alleged a “Threat to Quit”, carefully enclosed in quotes as the Dacre attack goons had made it up.

And, as the Brown Moses blog has surmised, there is good reason over at Dacre Towers for the howling denunciation of the Inquiry: some of the questioning meted out to the Vagina Monologue was not at all appreciated by someone who does not generally allow himself to be subjected to questioning, and follow-up evidence from Dacre remains outstanding.

On top of that, Leveson’s ruling on Operation Motorman may drop Dacre’s hacks in the mire. But the Fawkes blog has been pushing for that information to be put in the public domain – and now Staines and Cole are going in to bat for an editor who has decided that any release should be resisted! The Laurel and Hardy of the blogosphere are apparently facing both ways – just to keep Paul Dacre sweet.

I do hope the Vagina Monologue is making it worth their while. Another fine mess.