Daily Mail Skwawkbox Hypocrisy

The Mail was on its high horse last August as it proclaimed “Revealed: Far left blogger who reported 'fake news' allegations that government is gagging media over true scale of Grenfell deaths is corporate boss who sells services to the NHS … Steven Walker runs left wing blog 'Skwawkbox', accused of spreading fake news … He is behind left-wing blog Skwawkbox which publishes pro-Corbyn propaganda”.

Who f***ing says I have to credit some c*** for f***ing lifting his content, c***?!?!?

There was more in the same vein. “Labour MP John Mann told MailOnline: 'Skwawkbox is not a credible or decent media outlet. They make it up as they go along. They have no credibility. It is a nasty, pernicious outlet’ … Skwawkbox also faced claims it spreads fake news when it published the false allegation that Theresa May was under investigation by the Cabinet Office for 'conflict of interest on Brexit’”.

Terrible, eh? And there was yet more. “The blog is known for publishing the pro-Corbyn propaganda that helped Labour's shock election success by galvanising the youth vote … Skwawkbox is noted for running stories that seem to have been briefed by Corbyn's inner circle, including insider quotes that suggest links with to senior Labour members”. That last bit is a combination of guesswork and pure bullshit, so, er, Fake News.

Quite apart from seeing how utterly clueless the Press Establishment is when it comes to figuring out the new media landscape, this article now stands out for its rank hypocrisy. This is because the Mail might want its readers not to look at sites like Skwawkbox, but its own hacks and droids have no compunction in checking it out.

We know this after Skwawkbox unearthed photos of “White shirt man” Paul Townsley of Jacob Rees Mogg UWE ruckus fame, at a party where he was dressed in a Nazi SS uniform. This was presented as an exclusive, not unreasonably as no other media outlet had the story. Readers are reminded of who struck the first blow, noting “The video evidence is completely at odds with the presentation of events by mainstream and right-wing media – and senior Tory politicians – who have described ‘left-wing violence and intimidation’”. So how did the Mail ignore the new media world this time?

Simples. They lifted it all - slanted to suit their agenda. So we got “'Man in white shirt' who defended Jacob Rees-Mogg in university bust-up is pictured in black Nazi uniform … Paul Townsley says he stepped in to protect Jacob Rees-Mogg at Bristol speech … He claims he feared of attack on Mr Rees-Mogg in the wake of Jo Cox's murder”.

Brass neck, much? Someone was going to get murdered, except the knife and gun were missing and nobody was interested in hitting anyone - well, except Townsley, of course. The Mail lifted all the photos, they did not ask Skwawkbox for permission, did not credit the site, and did not even mention it. Just nicked the lot.

So remember, Mail readers, the paper wants you to believe that new media sites like Skwawkbox peddle Fake News. But they want to nick their content, too. That’s how Press Establishment hypocrisy works.