Telegraph Blogs Hypocrisy

A remarkable volte face has been achieved by Damian Thompson, clueless pundit of no fixed hair appointment, who, it is claimed, is editor of Telegraph blogs, to the surprise of anyone who had already concluded that editing is the last thing that happens over at that particular bear pit. And the result is that Thompson has demonstrated that he is a hypocrite.

Dames has decided to take a pot shot at Charlie Brooker, mainly because Brooker regularly appears on telly, is well-regarded, and in any case it is the unwritten rule at Telegraph blogs that anyone connected with Channel 4’s Ten O’Clock Live needs the boot putting in on them regularly, a course of action previously advocated by James “saviour of Western civilisation” Delingpole.

Indeed, Thompson borrows the Delingpole “bien pensant” sneer for his attack, “From savage critic to moaning luvvie: Charlie Brooker can dish it out but not take it”. Dames reaches his conclusion by taking a recent item in Private Eye at face value: this suggested that Brooker had asked Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger to disable comments on his column, and that the request had been refused.

Unfortunately for Dames, this is not the recollection of Brooker, who has put the Tel pundit straight today, telling him “I never asked Alan Rusbridger to turn comments off and therefore was not turned down”. Brooker’s Tweet was re-tweeted by Rusbridger, which suggests some measure of agreement, although Dames has not so much as amended his post at Telegraph blogs.

But, those with suitably long memories might ask, what is Dames doing taking Private Eye on trust, when he has been so ready to take issue with it in the past? When the Eye ran a piece back in 2011 that described how the Tel’s bloggers were ranked, Thompson was not at all pleased, and even offered to demonstrate how the Eye had got it wrong.

Sadly, not only did he not pony up the evidence to back up his argument, he was also undermined by the loathsome Toby Young, who confirmed the Eye’s assertion that Thompson routinely ranked blogs, and also confirmed that Delingpole usually topped the poll. And now, Dames has decided that the Eye, far from being less than totally accurate at all times, is correct.

It’s correct, of course, because the subject of its attack is someone Dames envies, and wants to take a pot shot at. Private Eye is only wrong when it shows him in a less than favourable light, or to use his own words “from savage critic to moaning luvvie, Damian Thompson can dish it out but not take it”.

You’re welcome, Dames. Have a nice day.