Leveson Under Attack

It has been noted by media guru Brian Cathcart that the worms that scrabble around the dunghill that is Grubstreet have begun to turn on Lord Justice Leveson, well before the completion of his Inquiry. Leading the fightback has been the unlikely figure of Tory minister Michael “Oiky” Gove, but this is not a party political show: Gove is fronting for Rupe and his troops.

If it Oiks like a duck ...

This should be no surprise to anyone, as Gove has already fronted for the Murdochs in the education field. And the attack is not coming just from News International, as one glance at the empire of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre will confirm: the word has clearly gone out to rubbish Leveson, the move extending also to the Maily Telegraph whose editor Tony Gallagher is also on-side.

When Young Dave appeared before the Inquiry, Gallagher played the “not really important and nobody cares” line by Tweeting that only 1% of his site’s traffic was about it. But it is the Mail that has, understandably, been in the vanguard of the attack: Dacre is frightened witless that the report will constrain his right to die in a ditch in the cause of publishing what he damn well pleases.

The Vagina monologue famously rejected a Murdoch editorship because it would not allow him to “edit with freedom”. Anything that comes between the mythical “conversation” between Dacre and his readership is therefore to be resisted, ridiculed and otherwise attacked. And so Leveson is being smeared as some kind of prima donna throwing hissy fits at his critics.

So what about my f***ing editing, c***?!?

So, following the “news” part of the attack, very much in the style of Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse) comes the comment part, with Tim Shipman giving readers the inside track on what “Oiky” Gove actually said, which for spoken word over an informal dinner has been remarkably well recalled – word for word, in fact. Now there isn’t a surprise.

But one pundit, for Dacre, is never enough, so Melanie “not just Barking but halfway to Upminster” Phillips has also been sent over the top to scribble more fawning praise of Gove. Mad Mel includes some magnificent whoppers, including the assertion that the press Stateside is “supinely respectful towards those in power”. She missed Barack Obama’s immigration speech last week.

This dubious convocation, which also has on side some Tory MPs pitching the canard about Leveson being “unelected”, has not come together by accident. There is clearly a fear among not only the press, but also many politicians, that Leveson will upset their cosy world and actually give those without significant funds some kind of redress for the bad behaviour of those in power.

So more power to Brian Cathcart say I. Gove’s attitude is not good enough.