Showing posts with label Leveson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leveson. Show all posts

Thursday 29 November 2012

Whitewash?



So we had the Leveson enquiry, set up by Prime Minister David Cameron, to inquire into the press intrusion and misuse of the individual, famous and unknownm has reported.  Hours, days, weeks of testimony from the famous and infamous, politicians, journalists, tabloid hacks, and Rupert Murdoch and his henchmen, and indeed famous henchwomen!  Actors, individual members of the public who were hacked and abused, footballers and singers, all have appeared and demanded the press are controlled!  Lord Justice Leveson listened, occasionally questioned, and has now returned after pondering the findings and come to his conclusions.

Clearly the Press Complaints Commission has failed, clearly the press have got out of control, clearly a body is required to independently rule over the press.  This must be a body agreed by the press, independent of them, and secured by law!  The world rises to agree, with only three objecting.  One objection comes from the newspapers themselves whining about 'freedom!'  A freedom to do as they like.  The papers have all lost half their readership in the last ten years, TV, radio & the internet taking over, no wonder they are desperate for dirt on the famous.  Money talks and unemployed hacks can be very upset.  A second comes from the readers who feel that the private lives of the rich and famous, no matter how vacuous, are their business.  And a third objection comes from the Prime Minister himself.  Yes the man deemed not to have been influenced by friendship with the editor of one of Murdoch's papers, in spite of his close contact with her, the man who set up this enquiry as a PR stunt, the man who now fears the 'Daily Mail' and 'Daily Telegraph,' turning against him, has suddenly discovered he is not keen on passing any of the Lord Justice's findings into law!  Who would have thunk it eh?  To bring the law into being would have the media ruin him, and his chances of continuing in his job are feeble enough.  He is in a bad position.

Naturally the opposition suddenly find themselves in favour.  Naturally Nick Clegg, the man who sold out to Cameron just to pretend he was in power, has disagreed in a vain effort to save his job after the next election.  No chance pal. Naturally these new buddies will now demand a law, one that keeps press freedom to question and investigate, but also allows the politicians to curry favour with the media.  Naturally those who suffered, and one couple saw their son commit suicide after lies were published about him, naturally these people are not best pleased with Cameron's response.  What is important here, is it not those abused and hacked by the press?

I have done my bit.  In fact I did this yesterday.  I e-mailed my MP, Tory lackey that he is, and made clear that I wish for a press that is free to investigate and demand, to objectively question the powers that be, but one that is controlled from abusing the innocent, living of 'kiss & tell' stories, and one that is forced to be objective.  In a few days time I will receive a standard reply, full of bland acknowledgement and not altering his position which is to support Dave.  However by writing he knows how I feel and calculates this is also how others will feel.  Nearer the election I would mention the UKIP Party subtly!  

What happens now Dave wishes to whitewash the whole affair?  We will have to wait and see.  Which also reminds me of the other enquiry, you remember, the one asking about Tony Blair and the Iraq war.  Whatever happened to that whitewash report I wonder?     

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