Percy’s Big Night

Just in case anyone didn’t know, the barrage of advertising across the Media section of the Huffington Post underscores this week’s supposedly big event: Piers Morgan Tonight, fronted by Piers “Morgan” Moron (famous for being himself, making a laughing stock of the Daily Mirror, and getting decked by Jeremy Clarkson), makes its 9pm ET debut on CNN.

Already, we know that The Percy Moron Show will feature Oprah as first guest, and that, unlike the Larry King programme that it replaces, it will not be live. We also know that other first week guests include Condi Rice, but she already did the Daily Show a while back, and is likely to be still promoting her book. And the interview has to fill most of a one hour show.

What the folks at CNN will know only too well is that not only did Larry King drop over 40% of viewers during his last year, but that for the second year running, they were third in the primetime cable news stakes behind MSNBC, and of course our old friends at Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse). For African American and Hispanic viewers, MSNBC were top, ahead of Fox, in 2010, which should surprise no-one.

The scale of the challenge for CNN

Moreover, the nature of this particular beast means that accurate ratings for the cable news channels are readily available, so the scale of the challenge for The Percy Moron Show can be shown. These are the figures for the 8pm and 9pm ET hours last Thursday: see how CNN are third at 9pm and fourth at 8 – behind even sister channel HLN. And it should be noted that Anderson Cooper, who was standing in on the 9pm slot, is a popular and respected presenter.

As I’ve previously observed, Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow are not reported to be quaking in their boots. “Lights ... Camera ... Piers” for how long? Rupe himself doesn’t seem too optimistic: Murdoch turned down any suggestion of an interview on The Percy Moron Show, telling his former employee “I wish you good luck, but I do not wish you success”.

Express – Not Quite Plagiarism

Another day, another story appears in the Daily Express that is remarkably similar to one previously run by another paper. Today’s example is about favourite targets for the right leaning media, Commons Speaker John Bercow and wife Sally: the original piece appeared on the Telegraph site yesterday, is timed at 1151 hours, and is titled “Sally Bercow denounces Tory ‘whispering campaign’ against the Speaker”.

Original from the Telegraph

Over at the Express, their story is dated today, attributed to political editor Macer Hall, and titled “Speaker John Bercow’s wife lashes ‘whispering campaign’”. Most of the quotes in the Express article are identical to those in the Telegraph one, and little of substance is different, barring the Express’ inclusion of snarky detail such as asserting that Bercow’s “authority is crumbling” and that his wife is “a failed Labour council candidate”.

And the Express version

Both articles are included, and I commend them to anyone doubting that cutbacks at the Express have gone so far that the Desmond Press’ increasingly desperate hacks are lifting copy from rival titles in order to fill the pages of their downmarket papers.

Small wonder that circulation at the Daily Express is in freefall: “benchmark of excellence” indeed.

Fox, Kuwait, Iraq – What The Hell

Until last Friday, some thought that most of the cost of the First Gulf War had been met by Saudi Arabia, and that the USA, and other nations that had participated in the UN led action to take back control of Kuwait from the Ba’athist state of Iraq were happy with the outcome.

Also, the idea that the Iraqis asked for the 2003 invasion and the chaos that followed might have been a difficult one to sell. But all doubt was swept away on Friday evening in less than a minute by professional loudmouth Sean Hannity, “star” of Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse).

In a panel discussion on high oil prices, Hannity said of Kuwait and Iraq: “You know, we have every right to go in there and frankly take all their oil and make them pay for the liberation”.

Hannity is not some fringe wingnut. He is Fox’ second highest rating host, his show airing at 2100 hours ET on weekdays. He also said that Global Warming did not exist, because it had snowed in Houston.

Murdoch Is Served (26)

News cycles come and go, but Phonehackgate keeps coming back to haunt Rupe and his troops. Moreover, every time the story comes back into view, another sleb is taking the Murdoch press to the cleaners, then another, then another, despite the denials that any significant number of folks was involved.

And, in among the growing array of litigants, there is still the partial reporting of the news: as the Guardian’s Nick Davies noted in his excellent book Flat Earth News, “dog doesn’t eat dog”. So most of the Grubstreet dunghill has been silent over the affair, apart from the Guardian and Independent, although the angle suggesting that former Screws editor Andy Coulson had offered to resign his post as Young Dave’s chief spinmeister was at least covered by the Mail.

Perhaps the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre, who has been in the business a full forty years, has noted a change in wind direction. After all, even the Metropolitan Police conceded that 91 individuals’ mobile phone PINs were found in the material they seized from private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was jailed over the affair. And that does not rule out the possibility that there were many more.

Since actor Sienna Miller began proceedings, Steve Coogan has joined the list of litigants, and now Paul Gascoigne has said he will sue. Chris Tarrant and jockey Kieran Fallon are reported to be next. Max Clifford’s former assistant Nicola Phillips, George Galloway and agent Sky Andrew are also taking action.

Those possibly joining that action include John Prescott, journalist Brendan Montague, former deputy Met Commissioner and Lib Dem London mayoral candidate Brian Paddick, and MP Chris Bryant. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has now ordered a review of the evidence held by the Met.

And on top of all that, News International are even carrying out an internal investigation into the whole business, the thought entering that the Murdoch press wants to be prepared for the worst. For something dismissed by the right leaning part of both press and blogosphere as a “non story” for so long, to have the CPS on the case, and Paul Dacre showing an interest, suggests that is no longer a credible position.

For that, we have Nick Davies to thank, for gradually and persistently prising the door open, bit by bit, until at last we reach the point where it is possible to see inside. Cameron and Osborne may well rue the day they decided not to accept the Coulson resignation.

Why This Hack Is Not Welcome At The BBC

During the furore which followed the allegation that evidence supporting intervention in Iraq had been “sexed up”, one lasting impression remained, that Andrew Gilligan, who has not been welcome at the BBC since, had been a little too keen to put the boot into Tone and Big Al, so keen that his evidence to the subsequent Hutton Enquiry did not hold up at all well.

That impression is merely reinforced by Gilligan’s latest hatchet job – published yesterday by the Maily Telegraph – on transport journalist Christian Wolmar. London based readers of the Telegraph will not be surprised that Gilligan has gone in to bat for occasional mayor and regular collector of “chicken feed” from that same paper, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson.

Bozza had been suggesting that “driverless trains” could mean an end to industrial action disrupting Londoners’ travel, but as I pointed out on Friday, the extent of Automatic Train Operation (ATO) on London Underground (LU) is not that great, and there is a continuing requirement for a Train Operator (TOp) even when ATO is in use. Wolmar has effectively underscored my analysis.

Central Line - ATO but still with TOp

But such detail does not deter Gilligan, who reels off a number of cities that have driverless rail systems, while seeming not to notice that Wolmar was talking specifically about LU. Fortunately, Bozza’s number one fan at the Maily Telegraph works his way back to the subject by focusing on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), with which he triumphantly concludes his listing.

DLR - different system, and a driver on board

But here he has a problem: although train movement on the DLR is, for most of the time, automated, those trains are not, strictly speaking, driverless. Each DLR service carries a Passenger Services Agent (PSA) – these used to be called “Train Captains” – whose skill set includes the ability to drive the train when required, in addition to other tasks like revenue protection (most of the DLR is not barriered).

And, of course, the DLR and LU are two separate entities. Moreover, neither have done away with having a properly trained driver on board, and nor will they in the foreseeable future. That Gilligan chooses to ignore such mildly inconvenient facts in order to cheer for Bozza confirms not only his political leanings, but also a continuing insistence on working back from his conclusions in his own wilful and selective manner.

Small wonder, then, that the Beeb has not welcomed him back, and will not be doing any time soon.

Crikey Chaps, It Won’t Be Popular Either!

Amid the rumblings of discontent over the use of its proposed rear platform entrance, development of the New Bus For London (aka Boris Bus or Bozzamaster) continues. But, as I pointed out recently, in its current form, the economics of Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson’s vanity project do not stack up.

Nor will the Bozzabus find much favour with the very public it is intended to serve: as it has three large doors as well as two sets of stairs, the vehicle seats only 62, two less than the “short” Routemaster, and a whole ten less than the “long” one (even though the latter is nothing like the length of its supposed successor).

And in the lower deck, the Bozzabus seats just 22, with many seats rear facing, or needing a step up to access them. This matters to that target audience: family groups, parents with small children, elderly people, or anyone else who values the reassurance of travelling on the lower deck and being that bit closer to the driver.

Those kinds of people are the bread and butter of off peak bus travel around London, and many of them use buses because of their accessibility. For the same reason, they would not use the tube, even at quiet times. Also important is that this demographic is one of the reasons advanced for removing “bendy” buses from the capital’s streets: the reality is that the replacement offering is if anything worse.

And, talking of the “bendy” bus, there appears to be a spreading of questionable information suggesting that the Bozzabus will be as good for short dwell times as the long single deckers it replaces. But Dave Hill’s informant didn’t tell the Guardian man the whole story: getting folks through those doors two abreast is no good when there are stairs and that small lower deck capacity in the same equation.

The more that the design of the Bozzabus is studied, the less like A Very Good Idea it appears. There is next to no chance of an export market, and most other cities across Europe are happy to be out of step with Bozza, relying on the “bendy” bus that he so irrationally dislikes.

How much longer does the pretence have to continue?

Reclaiming In The Retelling

Last night, the Labour Party was celebrating holding on to the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency after a by-election forced by the error of its own side. The Lib Dems, whose candidate precipitated the whole process, came second, and the Tories a distant third.

Then came the morning after, and the spin. In the Maily Telegraph, Nick Clegg is quoted as talking of “retaking” the seat in 2015. In the Express, Clegg has said the Lib Dems “will make a comeback” there.

That would be an interesting achievement: since the Oldham East and Saddleworth constituency was created in 1997, it has always returned a Labour MP.

Yikes Chaps – No Driver!

Occasional London mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson has, in between his regular mission to collect “chicken feed” from the Maily Telegraph, put forward his latest jolly good idea for solving the industrial relations problems of London Underground (LU). Bozza has told the Daily Mail that his secret weapon is “driverless trains”. Except he’s talking total guff.

LU uses what is known as Automatic Train Operation (ATO) on three lines, but this does not do away with the Train Operator (TOp), the term LU uses instead of driver. ATO was trialled in the early 1960s, and used from the beginning on the then new Victoria Line. At present, all trains on that line, both original 1967 stock and new 2009 stock, use the original ATO system, but when the 1967 stock has been withdrawn, a new ATO system will be introduced, and no doubt there will be some need for manual intervention as it is bedded in.

The Central Line was the first line to have ATO introduced in place of lineside signalling, initially in the central area only. The installation has not been without its problems, and unlike the Victoria, it has a lot of surface running, where slippery, wet or icy rail conditions makes some manual use of the controls unavoidable. TOps are trained to enable them to make the necessary intervention, as well as oversee station stops and be able to perform a range of safety related tasks, including evacuation of the train, if necessary.

Most recently, the Jubilee Line has had ATO replace lineside signals, but between Stratford and Neasden only. The installation has not yet been optimised for speed and therefore line capacity, and in the near future will have to be revisited to enable a more frequent service to operate.

So just three LU tube lines have ATO, one of them in a partial and not yet fully functioning installation, and another with a new system yet to be introduced. All other tube lines – the Northern, Piccadilly, Waterloo and City, and Bakerloo – have no ATO and no prospect of it being implemented any time soon. None of the Sub Surface Lines (SSLs) – the District, Circle, Hammersmith and City, and Metropolitan – have ATO, or are slated to receive it.

All this may be borne in mind when Bozza sounds off about “driverless trains”: such things do not exist on LU.

TPA – Heads Up

Recent output from the so-called Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) might have given the impression that this was an organisation in decline. That thought may have been premature: today, it was revealed that the TPA, along with the Institute of Directors (IoD), have founded the 2020 Tax Commission, which meets for the first time on Tuesday next.

This new body has impeccably right leaning credentials: in the chair will be Allister Heath, who co-founded the LSE Hayek Society back in 1996. The “commissioners” include Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, along with Nick Bosanquet, of right leaning “think tank” Reform, and the TPA’s so-called “Research Fellow” Mike Denham.

The last name is important: Denham, who has done much of the number crunching for recent TPA “reports”, has put his blog on hold, telling that he has a book to write, along with “a couple of other projects”. The 2020 Tax Commission is clearly one of that “couple”.

Denham was behind the recent TPA welfare “report”, which proposed lowering the poverty line: he was clearly distressed at the thought of the least well off being allowed access to televisions, washing machines and refrigerators. He has, on his own blog, urged ending of the minimum wage.

It would be wrong to pre-judge what may come from this convocation of comfortably off and generally right leaning individuals, and so I do not. However, given the track record of the TPA, which is generally to favour the interests of their overmonied backers, I’ll be maintaining a watching brief against any tendency to promote supposed tax fairness while kicking the poorest (which the TPA welfare proposals were mainly about).

The TPA tendency to demonise Government, along with public service and public works, will also be highlighted when it – inevitably – appears. More updates to come during the coming months.

Money Mail – It’s All Relative

Watchers of the world that is the Daily Mail do not have to look far to see the paper’s obsession with money: what some folks are paid, what they may or may not be taxed, the money some get improperly, the losses made by others. Typical of the Mail’s money stories was today’s why-oh-why effort attacking refuse collectors in Birmingham: they earn 45,000 notes a year!

And, of course, the reality is different: they earn between 24k and 26k, and make a bit more with overtime (to around 32k). But you have to be envious, so the numbers are made to look like they get more than you. And at the same time, for those earning 25k a year (like those binmen they just went after), the Mail is actually on your side: more why-oh-why copy tells of the “hammering” coming to such people when the benefits system is reformed.

So far, so typical: the Mail is facing both ways in its efforts to fuel the anxieties of its readership, which it more than likely put in their minds in the first place. But what does not get told is that this really is small beer when put alongside the wads awarded to the paper’s staff and its array of dubiously talented columnists.

Because the picking around the odd 25k here and there is thrown into sharp relief by the news that the Daily Mail’s legendarily foul mouthed editor Paul Dacre last year trousered a remuneration package totalling an eye-watering 2.8 million notes, making him the best-paid editor on the dunghill that is Grubstreet.

That’s a lot of dosh, even allowing for Dacre’s unique ability with expletives, which has earned him the nickname of “The Vagina Monologue”. But several of his columnists are equally lavishly rewarded: Fat Dick Littlejohn, who finds basic research so tiresome, is thought to be close to the million quid a year mark. Liz Jones, whose empathy with those in debt is so sincere, may not be far behind.

And what of the rest of the unsavoury bunch? Whether you would want to find yourself stuck in a lift with Jan Moir, Janet Street [expletive deleted]ing Porter, Stephen “why oh why BBC” Glover, and “Mad” Melanie Phillips, and may reasonably cross the road or avoid bars and restaurants to keep away from them, they are doubtless squirreling away a sum well into six figures annually from the Mail.

So when the Mail tells of how rotten it is that refuse collectors can make over 30k a year after getting a bit of overtime, remember the poor rewards and high principles of those doing the carping and demonising.

A Presidential President

And so, after the shootings in Tucson, the reaction, the spin, the name-calling, and the rest, Barack Obama arrived yesterday for the memorial service for the victims, and to lead those praying for the recovery of the wounded. Although events like this are meant to transcend politics, in reality they cannot: Obama is still a politician.

So how did his speech play? In a packed arena on the University of Arizona campus, with thousands more listening outside, Obama paid tribute to those who died, those who selflessly helped the wounded and prevented the shooter from reloading his weapon, and revealed that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time since the shooting.

His delivery was measured, the tone he struck matched the mood of the occasion, and, yes, he was presidential. He was applauded long and loud even before his speech, and then yet longer and louder afterwards. Snippets such as “What we can’t do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other” will be remembered for months afterwards. Because they will be wheeled out as the 2012 Elections approach.

For this is the political part of such events: with this speech, Barack Obama has begun his march towards re-election. As he was gaining the plaudits for a moving and conciliatory speech, his rivals floundered: former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, seen as a strong challenger from the GOP, was being subjected to an extended grilling by Daily Show host Jon Stewart [video, sadly, not available in the UK right now]. He was not totally convincing.

Sarah Palin: "America's Enduring Strength" from Sarah Palin on Vimeo.

And Sarah Palin, whose language and literature has drawn criticism – not only from the left – was embroiled in a mess of her own making when, in a video posted on her Facebook page, she accused her critics of making a “blood libel”. The phrase has an unfortunate past, and is considered by some to have anti-Semitic overtones. Whether or not that is true, those two words overshadowed the rest of her message.

In reality, any idea of “Palin 2012” is now finished. Barack Obama, so recently written off even by some Democrat supporters, is on his way to the party’s nomination. He will then start the next race for the White House as favourite. When the moment came, and he needed to be presidential, he delivered.

More Express Borrowing

The flagship title of the Desmond press gives every indication of, once more, getting others to do the investigation for it, the latest example being a story on snowstorms across the USA.

At first, the headline in this Express piece – dated January 13 – looks both interesting and original: 49 out of 50 states in the USA hit by snow. But original it is not.

Because the same headline can be found in a story published on January 11 by the Huffington Post – more than a day earlier, even allowing for the time difference between the US and UK.

The HuffPo, of course, is a free to view resource, but no doubt this timeline, together with the similar headline, is mere coincidence.

TPA – Not Even Worth Bothering With This One

Things do not seem to be going too well at the so-called Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA): first there was a flimsy and fact-free attack on Network Rail for being, well, Network Rail, then the TPA teamed up with peddler of “rumour, plots, conspiracy and tittle-tattle” Paul Staines (aka Guido Fawkes) yesterday. Now they are pressing for some kind of economic reform, based on, well, very little substance.

The article, The Cost Of Britain’s Eroding Economic Freedom, published today and authored by non-job occupant Rory Meakin, tells that “Britain has fallen in an influential index of economic freedom”. Yes, we’re now number 16, down from 11 last year. Wow. So who says so? The Heritage Foundation, that’s who, in association with the Wall Street Journal.

So what is the Heritage Foundation? A look at its mission statement answers that one: “to formulate and promote conservative public policies”, it begins. The organisation’s favourite politicians are Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, so it associates itself with a President who doubled the USA’s deficit, and the Prime Minister who oversaw well over three million unemployed (with an ever rising number dumped on Incapacity Benefit).

And the Wall Street Journal? This formerly sober publication has recently become part of the Murdoch empire, and is increasingly hectoring and partisan in its approach – the partisan part being its leaning to the right. So that’s two less than impartial bodies, with the Heritage Foundation an irrelevance in the UK, except for some on the far right of the Tory Party who cling to their particular dream of ideological purity.

Therefore, when Meakin concludes by including in his prescription “cut wasteful spending”, one can only hope that, where the TPA’s backers are concerned, he will be first to volunteer.

[UPDATE: my thanks to Clifford Singer (@OtherTPA) for the plug. As he says, the TPA's solution to a crisis caused by deregulation is, er, deregulation]

The Vanishing Of The PCC

Following its ejection from the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) for failure to stump up its subs, it might be thought that there would be some comment on the event from Northern & Shell, owners of the Express and Star titles, but not a bit of it: the Express leads today on one of the title’s staples, pills and potential heart disease. The Daily Star is also stuck in a familiar rut: Katie Price aka Jordan (again).

In fact, a search of the Express and Daily Star websites reveals that there is no mention of the PCC anywhere. Neither is there any word of the PCC on Northern & Shell’s site, although you can see Richard “Dirty” Desmond’s leering face alongside the unintentionally hilarious assertion “benchmark of excellence”.

But, so what? Maybe this is an industry wide thing? Well, no it isn’t: the Guardian, which covered the parting of the ways between Desmond and the Rest, brings up lots of PCC related stories when its site is searched. Likewise the Maily Telegraph. And a good sheaf of results, too, from the Independent.

Even Rupe’s downmarket troops at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun will serve you up plenty of PCC hits, despite their typically poor grasp of English. And the domain of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre, despite their often tenuous relationship with facts, will at least record decisions of the PCC, even the Stephen Gately one.

So why no trace of the PCC at the Desmond Press? It must be pure coincidence – after all, Richard Desmond never interferes in the running of his newspapers. We know this because he said so in court. Under oath.

TPA Joins With Rumour Merchant

Hardly had I made adverse comment on the apparent double standards of Paul Staines, who blogs under the alias of Guido Fawkes, than he appears in my field of vision once more, this time using the persona of the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics, which is a front organisation run by Staines and with very little recent activity.

The Sunlight Centre has previously promised “resources for bloggers” and claims to be modelled on the Sunlight Foundation in Washington DC, but there have been no resources made available, and apparently all that the Centre does is to pursue politicians who have proved immune to the nudge-nudge and routine smear of the Staines blog.

This, though, has clearly not deterred the folks at the so-called Taxpayers’ Alliance (TPA) from linking up with Staines: their lead story right now (1830 hours), on Labour MP Eric Illsley, who has pleaded guilty to false expense claims, urges the signing of a petition calling for Illsley’s resignation from the House of Commons. The petition has been started by Staines’ front group the Sunlight Centre for Open Politics.

So the TPA is making common cause with someone whose blog advertises “plots, rumours ... conspiracy ... tittle tattle” and “gossip”. Something to bear in mind when the next TPA “report”, replete with all its “research” and masses of turgid “detail” is released.

Time To Turn Down The Rhetoric – 3

From a brief look at the US cable news media following the Tucson shootings, it might look as if little has changed: the screaming rhetoric has continued, although the subject of those sounding off is now different. Those on the right are protesting, accusing anyone and everyone on the left of blaming them for the alleged actions of Jared Lee Loughner.

Moreover, the right are desperately characterising Loughner as a “leftist”: typical are the false rumours claiming that the alleged shooter was a registered Democrat, which he was not (he was registered as Independent). Those taking a liberal stance, having tried to suggest that the violent rhetoric be turned down, are now making the point that there have been a succession of these shootings over the years, and asking what will happen next time.

But in among all of the noise, one hopeful sign has emerged: Roger Ailes, President of Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse) claims to have instructed his hosts to tone down their rhetoric. Ailes, in conversation with Russell Simmons, asserted that “I told all of our guys, shut up, tone it down, make your argument intellectually. You don’t have to do it with bombast. I hope the other side does that”.

It sounds promising, but does not stand up well when compared to last night’s ranting from his top rating host Bill O’Reilly: Bill-O denounced the New York Times, the National Organization for Women, and MSNBC, the last being described as “far left”. He recited the so far standard right wing talking point that the left are using the shootings for political ends.

So Ailes’ words don’t seem to cut much ice with Bill-O. Neither does it appear to have had any effect on America Live host Megyn Kelly, who used her characteristic “question as conclusion and judgment” approach to go after Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik during a special Sunday edition of the show.

And, unless Fox actually does turn down both vitriol and volume, Ailes’ words will be just that, and no more.

Rogue State Declares UDI

Back in the 1960s, the UK and the Commonwealth had to deal with what was rapidly becoming a rogue state, the then Southern Rhodesia, ruled over by the George Wallace of southern Africa, Ian Smith. Actions against Smith and his Government in what was then called Salisbury were meant to show strength, but when Smith made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), it instead highlighted weakness.

Now, the Fourth Estate has experienced its own rogue state declaring UDI: today, the Desmond press was ejected from the oversight of the already weak and ineffective Press Complaints Commission (PCC) after refusing to stump up its levy to the body. In reality, exclusion from the PCC was already a given, the decision having been made by Richard “Dirty” Desmond rather than the regulator.

Will anything change? Only for those not of sufficient means to force Desmond and his decreasing band of hacks to atone for their routinely inaccurate copy in court. For everyone else, it will be writs all round as before, and the way that papers such as the Daily Express and Daily Star are produced nowadays shows why media lawyers everywhere are readying themselves for an increased case load.

Back in 2008, dozens of sub-editors – the usually senior hands who shake verbiage out of copy and check it for accuracy – left the titles now under the control of Desmond’s Northern & Shell (N&S). Hacks would now be expected to input their stories directly onto page templates, which would allow them to use a variety of styles, as one might do with any report generator. Copy would supposedly be checked by lawyers.

That last does not seem to have worked particularly well: as Roy Greenslade has noted, the Express and Star titles are top of the league for libel payments. Moreover, Desmond’s reputation for vanity and aggressiveness (the N&S website demonstrates that someone has retained their sense of humour by juxtaposing his face and the phrase “benchmark of excellence”) does not augur well for the future.

So, while the Desmond press may get away with less than totally accurate and honest copy when ordinary folk are concerned, the better off – and those able to interest a no-win no-fee lawyer – look set to keep the N&S logo in the public gaze for many years to come.

Steve Clarke – He’ll Never Walk Alone

Events have been moving rapidly since Liverpool FC decided that the time had come to part company with the unfortunate and unloved Roy Hodgson: not just the temporary appointment of Kenny Dalglish, or the controversy over Howard Webb’s refereeing of their FA Cup match at Old Trafford, but today’s news that Steve Clarke is to become First Team coach.

Is it such a big deal? I think it is, not least for current Reds’ assistant manager Sammy Lee. Clarke assumed that position at Newcastle United, West Ham and of course at Chelsea under José Mourinho. Were I in Lee’s shoes, I’d not have much confidence of being in post much longer.

And what of Clarke’s old mucker Mourinho, now in the – by definition – hot seat at Real Madrid? Well, Real hosted Villareal on Sunday last, not convincing in the first half and eventually prevailing 4-2 thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick (the same player scored two of the three goals the previous Monday in the away win at Getafe).

Mourinho, whose side are just two points adrift of leaders Barcelona – although the Catalan side have a goal difference seventeen better – was in typically enigmatic mood after the match, observing that “everything I do is misinterpreted” when discussing his game plan and substitutions.

Of course, it’s never easy to tell when the former Chelsea boss is being totally serious. But if his team fail to catch and overhaul Barcelona, he will not keep well at the Bernabeu. Fabio Capello won Real the title and then got sacked.

Is John Henry ambitious enough to want a Special One for his new acquisition? Let’s see what happens after the end of the season.

Time To Turn Down The Rhetoric – 2

Right now, across the right leaning part of the news media and blogosphere across the USA, and in parts of the UK, a large straw man is taking shape.

After the Tucson shootings on Saturday, one quickly identifiable contributory factor to the whole sad business was the incendiary level of rhetoric that has gradually permeated politics Stateside. The target of the shootings, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, during her campaign for re-election to the House, had faced accusations from her Republican opponent of being, variously, a socialist, a communist, a fascist, and a traitor.

But those on the right are now screaming that they are being victimised by the left, that the shootings have been politicised, and that the events are being used as an excuse to stifle free speech. The right, when on the defensive, can be scary.

One of the first out of the traps in showing that their own rhetoric will not be getting scaled back any time soon has been Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse). Following MSNBC’s special Saturday edition of Countdown, and Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment – where he called for the language of violence to end, and did not exempt any part of the political spectrum – Fox arranged a Sunday edition of America Live, fronted by Megyn Kelly, which is part of the Fox “opinion” strand.

Kelly had lined up an interview with Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik. But it wasn’t really an interview, but Kelly lecturing Dupnik: “I know that you’re a Democrat, and you ran for office as a Democrat ... I’m sure some of our viewers are asking themselves why you are putting a political spin on this when they may be asking why you the sheriff aren’t focused on the facts”. In other words, Kelly has uncovered a rotten leftist who isn’t doing his job properly – her supposed “question” is of course assertion and conclusion in one.

And Fox is only one of a number of organisations trying to demonise Sheriff Dupnik and lay responsibility for the shootings with the left. Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips labelled Dupnik a “leftist sheriff” and the suspect a “leftist lunatic”. The group sponsored the 2010 Tea Party Convention – keynote speaker Sarah Palin. In Tucson, conservative radio host Jon Justice called for Dupnik to step down – not that he’s trying to curtail free speech, of course.

It’s not just in the USA either: MEP and occasional Tory Dan, Dan the Oratory Man is in full flow in the Maily Telegraph today, asserting that the “left” are “chiding ... opponents for hate speech while ... accusing them of murder”, which is not being done. The same site also carries Nile Gardiner talking of “the Left’s shameful exploitation of a national tragedy”.

Expect more of this sickening behaviour in the next few days.

Why Not Order-Order Yourself A Double ... Standard?

The established part of the Fourth Estate and its nascent cousins in the blogosphere share one attribute: their tendency to trim away from the cut and thrust of investigation when it gets too close to home. So Rupe’s troops steer well clear of Phonehackgate, the Desmond press doesn’t mention Desmond, and the Maily Telegraph doesn’t mention the Barclay twins (aka The Fabulous Bingo Brothers).

And in the blogosphere, we find this habit extends to the outpourings of one Paul Staines, who blogs under the alias of Guido Fawkes. Staines has been laying into the left leaning part of the blogosphere for not allocating as much coverage to the jailing of disgraced former MP David Chaytor for expense “irregularities” as he has. But then came Mid-Bedfordshire MP (yes, it’s her again) Nadine Dorries.

La Dorries has friends in the right leaning part of the blogosphere: apart from Iain Dale, a compliant and reliable conduit for Tory propaganda, there is Dale’s pal Phil Hendren (aka Dizzy Thinks). And then there is Staines, nowadays aided by tame gofer Henry Cole, formerly author of the Tory Bear blog. So how have Staines and Cole gone after Dorries, considering the pasting they gave Foreign Secretary William ‘Ague recently?

Compare and contrast, as they say: on Dorries and her affair, in two posts, the Staines blog merely recycles what had already been published by the obedient hackery of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre at the Daily Mail. The most withering comments are “it is a rum business” and “Everyone comes out fighting and badly”.

But for Master ‘Ague, and on a matter where Staines has not managed to prove anything, it has been very different. From the point when he questioned ‘Ague’s appointment of Chris Myers as a special assistant – and quoted gay basher Peter McKay (aka The World’s Worst Columnist) in his post – the Staines blog has run a series of nudge-nudge pieces.

First came the story that Master ‘Ague had – admittedly unadvisedly – shared a hotel room with Myers. Following that were posts entitled The Turn (geddit?!?), Well over half query Hague (geddit?!?), Hague’s Bedroom Pickles (geddit?!?), and Where’s Willy (geddit?!?). The no-smoke-without-fire trial was still going last month, even though Staines’ campaign showed little sign of success.

Not, of course, that Staines and Cole would be deterred from their dogged pursuit of the facts either by sinking to a stream of puerile innuendo, or by not wanting to upset one of their pals. That would mean double standards, and that would never do.