Today, our allegedly free and fearless press has managed two
things with its news coverage: one, a rare show of unanimity on the lead story,
and two, a pathetic combination of blatant dishonesty and victimhood playing.
The story was the conviction of
former entertainer Rolf Harris, the rest was a wailing and bawling excuse
note attempting to cover up for collective failure.
From the Express,
with “Predator Rolf Faces Jail Over Sex
Assaults”, through the Mail’s “For 50 years, he was the face of wholesome
family TV. Now we know the truth: Rolf is a predator who duped us all”, the
Mirror’s simple “Unmasked”, the Sun’s
creative “Rolf & Savile stalked
Broadmoor together”, the Telegraph’s
“Rolf Harris, entertainer, artist and sex
abuser, could die in jail” and the Times’
“Rolf Harris’s 40 years of depravity”,
the splash is the same.
Then the straight reporting ends, and the spin begins: if
Harris had been at it for between 40 and 50 years, someone within the Fourth
Estate had plenty of opportunity to nail him. They did not. This thought,
however, could not be allowed to enter, and so began the effort to get readers
to “look over there”.
So the conduct of the Harris case morphed seamlessly into an
assault on the Leveson Inquiry, and by association the campaigning group Hacked Off, as exemplified by the Sun’s editorial, most likely penned by
the paper’s non-bullying political editor Tom Newton Dunn. This talks of “newspaper-loathing luvvies” and tells of
the Met’s “new culture of secrecy”
(aka not taking bungs from the Sun).
This culture, readers are told, was “launched by the Leveson Inquiry”, which is the kind of weapons
grade bullshit which passes for journalism with Rupe’s downmarket troops
nowadays. The Leveson Inquiry has launched nothing as yet, and a few lawyers
waving the judge’s name about does not change that mildly inconvenient fact. It
was no better over at the Mail.
“How Rolf's bullying
lawyers cited Leveson inquiry to hide his arrest for four months and nearly
jeopardised his conviction” howls
the headline, while Daily Mail
Comment, the
authentic voice of the Vagina Monologue, thunders “Rolf Harris and how secrecy betrays justice” because the Police did
not at first name Harris. But I’m not minded to Look Over There, and the reason
is straightforward.
Nothing, repeat nothing,
repeat NOTHING in Leveson’s report would have stopped Harris getting guilty.
And by the press’ own calculations, he was at it for between 40 and 50 years.
Even deducting the two years since Leveson reported, that leaves at least 38
years when our free and fearless press had its chance to get Rolf – but, as
with so many other cases, did nothing, and so got nowhere.
There is only one failure in this case – that of the press
to do its job. AGAIN.
3 comments:
Or perhaps they did their job and used the information in other ways?
Unhealthy links between media, police, politicians and possibly the secret services makes one wonder whether the general populace is being served properly or whether a status quo for those at the top is the priority?
Love The way the Sun and The Mail are now trying to imply Rolf Harris' Activities were tacitly hidden by Levenson, as if to say that supporting the enquiry would have meant he would have gone unpunished.
Oh, and throw in an unsubstantiated claim re: Jimmy Savile into the bargain, as now his name is now less than mud, he won't sue either.
Is this what passes for a free and strident press nowadays - I don't think so!
The rebuttal of these this sort if self-serving newspaper nonsense was provided over a year ago in this blog by Hugh Tomlinson QC
http://hackinginquiry.org/comment/leveson-secret-arrests-and-the-rights-of-suspects-a-question-of-balance/
Post a Comment