The press are not neutral arbiters when it comes to the Labour leadership contest. If they can use the debates between party members as a way of deepening divisions in the party, they will. At the forefront of these attempts is the so-called quality “paper of record” The Times, which of late is transforming itself into […]
Posts under ‘Media’
The Royals and the Nazis
Jul 19th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Who wasn’t tickled by this front page? Well, The Palace, obviously. They said it’s “disappointing that film, shot eight decades ago… has been obtained and exploited“. Disappointing? How so? It’s not like anyone seriously believes the Queen has an attic full of Nazi regalia and goes to bed with a signed copy of Mein Kampf. […]
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Why David Aaronovitch is wrong about the anti-austerity demonstration
Jun 22nd, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.What do you do when you give up trying to change the world? There are two options. The first is to fade into private life and spend more time gardening, building a model railway, or indulging whatever other ever-so worthwhile pursuits. The other is to try and make a career as a professional naysayer. It’s […]
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Why are the Right endorsing Liz Kendall?
Jun 20th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Why are the Right endorsing Liz Kendall? I’m not talking about the right of the Labour Party, but the proper right. People like The Sun. People like “helpful” Tories telling any hack who cares to listen that she is the candidate they most fear. People like heads of business who like what she has to say about deficit […]
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The coming tabloid assault on charities
Jun 1st, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.A couple of straws in the wind, perhaps, but I have a feeling something’s a-brewing. Exhibit one: Olive Cooke, a 92-year-old poppy seller and giver to charitable causes took her own life after, apparently, being repeatedly pestered by cold callers asking for more cash (she already gave to 27 charities every month) and receiving dozens […]
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The general election unspun: the view of a media guerrilla
May 7th, 2015 by John Millington.John Millington says he feels like a media guerrilla, with limited resources and guile, trying to amplify a small yet vital voice within the mainstream media. Alarm blaring out, birds singing cheerily and the soft tones of John Humphries of R4 fame will soon be filling the room with the news of the day. This is […]
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Russell Brand urges you to vote Labour
May 4th, 2015 by Newsdesk.Part two of the Brand – Miliband interview is now out (you can see part one here). Complete with a previously un-released part of the previous interview (though it must be said that Ed struggles to get a word in through much of it), it includes an appeal by Brand for everyone to vote Labour – […]
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Why Brand-ing Miliband was the right move
Apr 30th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.A Frost/Nixon for our age? No, but the media reaction to Russell Brand’s encounter with Ed Miliband is out of all proportion to what was said. The actual content of the interview is pretty innocuous, at least from the standpoint of grizzled lefties and hardened politicos. Yet where Brand’s core audience are concerned, the teens to the […]
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Of #Milifandom – Who’da thought it?
Apr 25th, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.It’s my party and I’ll be late if I want to. News of the unexpected #Milifandom around comrade number one, Ed “Milibae” are chip wrappers humming in the nation’s bins alongside tea bags and gravy-speckled LibDem leaflets, but a conspiracy hatched by campaigning and a dud internet connection has blocked yours truly from commenting. Until […]
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In defence of Jim Jepps against press smears
Apr 21st, 2015 by Phil Burton-Cartledge.Thatcher once noted that when opponents resort to personal attacks, it signals their inability to argue the politics. What then to make of the concerted attack on my friend and comrade Jim Jepps by the Fawkes rabble, The Mail, and the Daily Mirror. Jim is very much away from the limelight, quietly plugging away at his own activist projects and […]
