<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" >

<channel><title><![CDATA[SubScribe - Random thoughts]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts]]></link><description><![CDATA[Random thoughts]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 23 Aug 2024 02:08:11 +0100</pubDate><generator>Weebly</generator><item><title><![CDATA[December 11]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-11]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-11#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Wed, 11 Dec 2019 17:22:58 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-11</guid><description><![CDATA[A couple of updates on posts from earlier in the week.First, back to the story of four-year-old Jack Willment-Barr, who was photographed on the floor of Leeds General Infirmary because his bed was needed for another patient. Yesterday The Sun reported that the boy's mother was cross that Labour was "playing politics" with his case and that she had "complained to the press regulator".The report doesn't quote her criticising Jeremy Corbyn - as the headline suggests. Nor does it say against whom th [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">A couple of updates on posts from earlier in the week.<br />First, back to the story of four-year-old Jack Willment-Barr, who was photographed on the floor of Leeds General Infirmary because his bed was needed for another patient. Yesterday The Sun reported that the boy's mother was cross that Labour was "playing politics" with his case and that she had "complained to the press regulator".<br />The report doesn't quote her criticising Jeremy Corbyn - as the headline suggests. Nor does it say against whom the complaint had been lodged - the Mirror, which splashed on the photograph on Monday, the Yorkshire Evening News, which broke the story or any other organisation. It doesn't even give her first name. And the word "exploiters", which is in the sub-head in quotes - usually an indication that somebody has said it somewhere - doesn't appear in the text.<br />Here's the cutting:</font><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/nhs-story_2_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph"><font color="#2a2a2a">Where any of that came from remains a mystery. But the press regulator IPSO has cleared up one point with an email last night:</font><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/ipso-email_1_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">Today the Mail entered the fray, also alleging that Jack's family were unhappy about being at the heart of a political controversy.<br />Again, the subsidiary headline and the text mentions a complaint. Again, Corbyn is accused treating the case as a "political football".<br />This time, there is a source for the claims - the Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, speaking on the Today programme.<br />So we have a Conservative minister apparently speaking for a family that feels let down by the NHS. Mr&nbsp; Buckland is not the health secretary. He was not the family's MP before the election was called and nor will he be on Friday - his constituency is South Swindon, quite a long way from Leeds. So it's hard to imagine that he got this information from the family first-hand.<br />I have looked all over the place and can find no other evidence that the family has spoken out against the Labour party or the publicity their son's case has attracted.<br />So could this possibly be a case of the Mail taking a Conservative politician's word as reliable enough to use without further substantiation? As with the non-assault on Matt Hancock's aide? Surely not.<br />Still, at least the copy does record (quite low down) that no complaint has been made to Ipso. I rather suspect that the Mail was another recipient of the "Dear all" email above, which I received last night.</font><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/jack_1_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">In fact, it seems the mother was concerned about future publicity - not the stories that had already appeared - and the Conservatives had put her in touch with the regulator for advice on avoiding any further press attention. A forlorn ambition.</font><br /></div>  <span class='imgPusher' style='float:left;height:0px'></span><span style='display: table;width:auto;position:relative;float:left;max-width:100%;;clear:left;margin-top:0px;*margin-top:0px'><a><img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/allison-tweet_orig.jpg" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; border-width:0; max-width:100%" alt="Picture" class="galleryImageBorder wsite-image" /></a><span style="display: table-caption; caption-side: bottom; font-size: 90%; margin-top: -10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;" class="wsite-caption"></span></span> <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;display:block;"></div> <hr style="width:100%;clear:both;visibility:hidden;"></hr>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">While all that was going on in the old-fashioned print newsrooms, the Telegraph's Allison Pearson was busy on Twitter, describing the picture of Jack as 100% fake. </span></div>  <div class="paragraph"><font color="#2a2a2a">Perhaps these were the paediatric nurses who had offered the explanation?</font><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/nurses_2_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">She deleted the tweet and did not tackle the subject in her column today. Maybe she was persuaded that the photograph was genuine by the Yorkshire Post editor's detailed explanation of the rigorous checks that were carried out before the story was first published.<br />Or maybe, as a fan of the Prime Minister, this convinced her:</font><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/jack_2_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">While we're on the Telegraph, a couple of days ago I was tempted to have a bet on the paper following the Express, Mail and Sun in running an interview with Boris Johnson before polling day. The Sunday Times and Evening Standard have also obliged. I doubt my trip to the bookie's would have made me rich.</font><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/interviews1_1_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[December 10]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-10]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-10#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Tue, 10 Dec 2019 13:32:34 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-10</guid><description><![CDATA[       I am intrigued by the Sun's coverage of the Leeds hospital controversy this morning, particularly by the second paragraph, which says the mother of the boy in the Mirror's front-page picture had complained to the press regulator.I find this odd because Tom Newton Dunn's story doesn't name her, even though she was identified, interviewed and quoted at length in the Mirror, along with three pictures of her son.          Presumably she agreed to all that. On the other hand, the story was bro [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/nhs-story_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a"><span style="font-weight:400">I am intrigued by the Sun's coverage of the Leeds hospital controversy this morning, particularly by the second paragraph, which says the mother of the boy in the Mirror's front-page picture had complained to the press regulator.<br />I find this odd because Tom Newton Dunn's story doesn't name her, even though she was identified, interviewed and quoted at length in the Mirror, along with three pictures of her son. </span></font><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/mum_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">Presumably she agreed to all that. On the other hand, the story was broken by Daniel Sheridan of the Yorkshire Evening Post, which is owned by Johnston Press - a rival stable to the Mirror's Reach owners. So maybe she didn't know she was going to be in the Mirror too?<br />Ipso confidentiality rules mean it will not disclose who has made a complaint. (I'm still waiting for it to confirm that there has been any complaint about the story.)</font><br /><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">So if Dunn is right that she has complained, she must be the source of that information, directly or indirectly. In which case, why not name her? And why not make more of it than a single sentence?</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/corbyn-tweet_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">The Sun is certainly right that Jeremy Corbyn </font><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">tweeted the story and used it to attack the Tories. His post attracted thousands of replies, many hostile.<br />As Dunn reports, one of the earliest replies called it "repugnant". Although whether one Twitter user can be described as "social media" is a moot point.<br />You may note that "Voice of Reason" quoted someone called Sheree Jenner-Hepburn who had a good friend who was a senior nursing sister at Leeds hospital. This convinced Voice of Reason that the whole thing was a put-up job.<br />Quite a lot of people seem to have good friends who are senior nursing sisters in Leeds, who all used exactly the same form of words to debunk the story.&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400"> This does not seem to have dented Dunn's belief in Voice of Reason as a quotable representative of Social Media.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/friend-of-mine_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/friend-of-mine-2_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:inherit; font-weight:inherit"><font color="#2a2a2a">The story goes on to say that an ITV reporter (</font></span><font color="#2a2a2a"><span><a href="https://twitter.com/joepike">Joe Pike,&nbsp;</a></span><span style="font-weight:inherit"> who is not named) tried to "goad" the PM into commenting on the picture. Since when were reporters asking legitimate questions during an election campaign "goading"?&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-weight:inherit">We now get the PM "stressing" that he wanted to push through Brexit so he could deal with issues like the NHS. Once his message has been duly relayed by The Sun, we are told that&nbsp; Johnson was&nbsp; "pressured" into a reaction. "It's a terrible photo..."</span></font><br /><span style="color:inherit; font-weight:inherit"><font color="#2a2a2a">But there is no mention in this section of the story of the fact that the Prime Minister took the reporter's phone and put it in his pocket. How would a Sun journalist react to such a thing happening to them? Would they omit it from a story?</font></span><br /><font color="#2a2a2a">The piece continues: <span style="font-weight: inherit;">"Health Secretary Matt Hancock was met by leftwingers at the hospital..." It is apparently perfectly normal for ministers to be parachuted into scenes of controversy, but quite unusual and wrong for their opponents to go to the same </span><span style="font-weight: inherit;">: "It was initially claimed..." we now have two pars on the non-punch. Dunn doesn't say who made the claim - the Tories, and possibly Hancock himself - but says it turns out to have been wrong.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: inherit;">It was bad enough for Robert Peston and Laura Koenssberg to take this false allegation on face value and tweet it without checking (as Dunn himself did), but at least it was in the "heat of the battle". It's inclusion in this story, once the facts were known, seems odd if unless you want to a point about Tory sources misleading journalists - which The Sun doesn't.<br />Far from it. Dunn continues to accept and pass on information from the Conservatives as undoubted fact: </span><span style="font-weight: inherit;">"The Tories say Labour WhatsApp groups are urging flying picket style activists..." How do they know? Have they infiltrated the group?&nbsp;<br /> "One text said 'we need to get people down there and kick off'." How does the Sun know? Has Dunn seen the message? Once again, if this is all the case and it has access to secret WhatsApp messages between Labour activists, how come the paper is making so little of it?&nbsp;<br />Finally, Johnson cancels a walkabout because 100 protesters are going to turn up to heckle. He says&nbsp; </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I have noticed Labour activists have been turning up in intimidating ways to heckle. I don't find this consistent with Mr Corbyn's claim to want to take the acrimony and heat out of politics."</span><span style="font-weight: inherit;"><br /></span> M<span style="font-weight: inherit;">eanwhile Corbyn appears in front of a crowd of a couple of thousand and posts a video of himself sitting by the fireside reading hostile responses to his social media posts.&nbsp; </span></font><br /></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[December 9]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-9]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-9#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Mon, 09 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-9</guid><description><![CDATA[       I have woken up crabby. So this is a grumpy post.First of all, I really am weary of our newspapers, which claim to &lsquo;call authority to account&rsquo;, pumping out material from Conservative Central Office. They are betraying their readers and will themselves be called to account when people stop buying. As they will.And then I saw the Sun, with its Friday 13th nightmare splash, followed by a totally made-up scare story, courtesy of CCHQ. Can you imagine the paper running a story sayi [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/front_529_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">I have woken up crabby. So this is a grumpy post.<br />First of all, <span style="font-weight:400">I really am weary of our newspapers, which claim to &lsquo;call authority to account&rsquo;, pumping out material from Conservative Central Office. They are betraying their readers and will themselves be called to account when people stop buying. As they will.<br />And then I saw the Sun, with its Friday 13th nightmare splash, followed by a </span></font><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">totally made-up scare story, courtesy of CCHQ. Can you imagine the paper running a story saying "An extra patient will die every day if the Tories are re-elected..." quoting Labour sources? Of course not.</span><font color="#2a2a2a"><span style="font-weight:400"></span></font><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-multicol"><div class="wsite-multicol-table-wrap" style="margin:0 -15px;"> 	<table class="wsite-multicol-table"> 		<tbody class="wsite-multicol-tbody"> 			<tr class="wsite-multicol-tr"> 				<td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"> 					 						  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/front_530_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>   					 				</td>				<td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"> 					 						  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/page-2_50_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>   					 				</td>			</tr> 		</tbody> 	</table> </div></div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">Then there's the promised three-page "dossier of doom", compiled by "experts". I thought the country had had enough of experts?</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/dossier_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">And finally, after a Jungle spread, we have their top political columnist saying that Labour can't win. In other words, it's never going to happen. What was that term they coined during the referendum campaign. Oh yes, </span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/projectfear?src=hashtag_click">#projectfear</a></span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/kavanagh_3_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">Back to my original gripe - about papers just printing whatever CCHQ says without any challenge or balance.<br /></font><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">We have a Prime Minister promising to lead the country to a great and glorious future, to "unleash its potential", to make it the best place in the world to live. But first he has to win a general election.<br />So what is the best strategy?&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400"> To set out his stall to entice the voters? <br />Nah! Just say the other chap's nasty and will hurt you. And your "client" press will spread the word.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/blame_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">And look who's advocating this policy on the Telegraph's oped pages - Mr Nick Timothy, mastermind of Theresa May's glorious election victory in 2017.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/oped_40_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">I haven't finished yet!</font><br /><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">Mr Johnson doesn't have time to be interviewed by Andrew Neil. But he could manage Phil and Holly. And supportive newspapers. Here are three from the past week. All "exclusive". All thrilled that the Prime Minister is deigning to talk to their readers and eager to pass on his every soundbite.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/interviews_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">He also had time to dash off an article for The Sun </span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">on Saturday. Now I think he might have miscalculated there. The paper's football fans may *believe* he can deliver many things, but they *know* the World Cup is not in his gift.<br />But I ask again, is any of this rigorous, even-handed journalism?</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/spread2_5_orig.png" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">But still, it was good to see the Times's Morten Morland </span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">take on this ghastly story earlier in the paper. Oh, sorry, I forgot. People who enrich our lives, keep our NHS and care homes going, pick our crops, change our hotel sheets, should forever know their place - as barely tolerated interlopers.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-multicol"><div class="wsite-multicol-table-wrap" style="margin:0 -15px;"> 	<table class="wsite-multicol-table"> 		<tbody class="wsite-multicol-tbody"> 			<tr class="wsite-multicol-tr"> 				<td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"> 					 						  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/cartoon_7_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>   					 				</td>				<td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"> 					 						  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/spread_216_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>   					 				</td>			</tr> 		</tbody> 	</table> </div></div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">And finally, a little reassurance that <span style="font-weight: 400;">there <strong>is</strong> good journalism out there. Please go out and buy the i paper</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. It alone has focused almost entirely on the issues rather than the personalities and the bile. And over the the past week has run splendid policy spreads. <br /></span></font><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">Today's is on </span><font color="#2a2a2a">Brexit.</font><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400"><font color="#2a2a2a"> I</font>t has also covered taxation, the environment, education and health.</span><font color="#2a2a2a"><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></font><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/voting-guide_4_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[December 8]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-8]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-8#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Sun, 08 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/december-8</guid><description><![CDATA[As we enter the final week of campaigning, I thought I'd take a look at what the paid-for tabloids (Mail, Express, Sun, Mirror) have been up to.Well, the obvious thing is that they are all far more interested in pushing "their" team than in straight reporting. Everything is spun, so that when Tories announce something it's brilliant in the Mail, Sun and Express and a wicked lie in the Mirror. And vice versa.Given the pro-Leave papers' attacks on Project Fear during referendum campaign, a key fea [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">As we enter the final week of campaigning, I thought I'd take a look at what the paid-for tabloids (Mail, Express, Sun, Mirror) have been up to.<br />Well, the obvious thing is that they are all far more interested in pushing "their" team than in straight reporting. Everything is spun, so that when Tories announce something it's brilliant in the Mail, Sun and Express and a wicked lie in the Mirror. And vice versa.<br />Given the pro-Leave papers' attacks on Project Fear during </span><font color="#2a2a2a">referendum campaign</font><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400"><font color="#2a2a2a">,</font> a key feature is that the way they all accentuate the negative, rather than the positive. Let's start with </span><font color="#2a2a2a">The Sun,</font> <span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">since it's the best-seller. It has run 36 Tory-focused pages since the beginning of last month.</span><br /></div>  <span class='imgPusher' style='float:left;height:0px'></span><span style='display: table;width:auto;position:relative;float:left;max-width:100%;;clear:left;margin-top:0px;*margin-top:0px'><a><img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/boris-pages_1.jpg?250" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; border-width:0; max-width:100%" alt="Picture" class="galleryImageBorder wsite-image" /></a><span style="display: table-caption; caption-side: bottom; font-size: 90%; margin-top: -10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center;" class="wsite-caption"></span></span> <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;display:block;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">...against 52 on Labour (some appear in both montages, as the Sun is quite cute at playing good cop/bad cop on the same spread).</span><br /></div> <hr style="width:100%;clear:both;visibility:hidden;"></hr>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/corbyn-pages_1_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><font color="#2a2a2a">The Daily Express i<span style="font-weight:400">s the only one of the quartet to run more positive than negative pages. But it's a close-run thing. With 65 on what "Boris" is up to...</span></font><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/boris-pages_2_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">...against 63 on the dangers of Corbyn's Labour. There is not one positive or even neutral story about the Labour party.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/corbyn-pages_2_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">But before we get carried away with the "awful Tory press", let's take a look at the Mirror. Its election coverage has been almost exclusively focused on the NHS and it has had nothing good to say about the Tories in these 70 pages.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/tory-pages_1_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">Whereas, it has devoted only 44 pages to Labour. It has reported policies that have gone unnoticed by the other tabloids (quite apart from those like broadband that have been ridiculed elsewhere), while doing its best to skirt the antisemitism controversies.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/labour-pages_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">The Daily Mail is by far the most politically engaged, regularly running three or four spreads on the campaign. It has been relentless in its assault on Labour in general and Corbyn and McDonnell in particular. It has run 133 pages on the "dangers" they pose.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/corbyn-pages_3_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">Now, the Mail is as Tory as they come. But it's not especially enamoured of Mr Johnson. So, while it wants us all to vote Conservative on Thursday, it hasn't been as enthusiastic as its rival whitetop in trumpeting "Boris". There have been barely half as many Tory pages as Labour.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/boris-pages_3_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">Indeed, it ran almost as many pages begging Farage to step aside and on members of other parties urging voters to "back Boris" as it did on Tory initiatives. 56 of them against 70.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/farage-pages_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <span class='imgPusher' style='float:left;height:0px'></span><span style='display: table;width:189px;position:relative;float:left;max-width:100%;;clear:left;margin-top:0px;*margin-top:0px'><a><img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/published/page-2_49.jpg?1576000595" style="margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; border-width:1px;padding:3px; max-width:100%" alt="Picture" class="galleryImageBorder wsite-image" /></a><span style="display: table-caption; caption-side: bottom; font-size: 90%; margin-top: -0px; margin-bottom: 0px; text-align: center;" class="wsite-caption"></span></span> <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;display:block;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">All four tabs have pretty well ignored the other parties, other than to speculate on LibDem and SNP coalition plots. The Greens and Plaid Cymru have barely had a look in. One page did, however, strike me as interesting, given the Mail's campaign to get Farage to call off his troops."Remainers" seeking the sort of electoral pact the Mail - and others - were urging on the Brexit party were "plotting" something that had to be "admitted" to, something undemocratic.<br /><br />Another noticeable feature of the coverage has been the cynical picture editing. We have seen Johnson out and about swigging whisky and beer (what happened to that "no alcohol" pledge?), dressing up with farmers, sheep, cattle, firefighters, builders, scientists etc.<br />You'd be excused for thinking that the Prime Minister gets a wonderful reception everywhere he goes, since there is absolutely zero coverage of demos and hecklers (even though he cancelled visits on basis of a handful of protesters). You might also think that Corbyn never goes out at all.<br />The research for this post started with gathering the pictures of the two leaders. But the fancy design work in the Sun, Mail and Mirror made that pretty scruffy (when you see the untidy montages below, you'll be able to imagine how impossible the others were). So let's just focus on the Express. <br />Here are <strong>all</strong> the photographs it has run of Mr Johnson since November 1. All to the same scale as they appeared in the paper.</span><br /></div> <hr style="width:100%;clear:both;visibility:hidden;"></hr>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/boris-to-28-11_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26); font-weight:400">And here are <strong>all </strong>the Corbyn pictures. Again to the same scale as they appeared in the papers, but not to the same scale as the Johnson pictures above.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/corbyn-to-28-11_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[November 29]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-29]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-29#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Fri, 29 Nov 2019 11:24:40 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-29</guid><description><![CDATA[Both main parties are accused of misleading voters on tax and spend. Pretty shameful as we approach the election. So how was it reported this morning?         Five Conservative-supporting papers majored on the IFS's criticisms of Labour's promise that only the top 5% of earners would pay more tax.The Mail did at least run a separate story on the IFS's qualms about the Conservative manifesto - that it would almost certainly have to put up taxes and increase borrowing to fulfil its spending plans, [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">Both main parties are accused of misleading voters on tax and spend. Pretty shameful as we approach the election. So how was it reported this morning?</span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/ifs_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;">Five Conservative-supporting papers majored on the IFS's criticisms of Labour's promise that only the top 5% of earners would pay more tax.<br />The Mail did at least run a separate story on the IFS's qualms about the Conservative manifesto - that it would almost certainly have to put up taxes and increase borrowing to fulfil its spending plans, in spite of&nbsp; promise of a five-year tax freeze. Even without the paper's political stance, it's hard to argue against the news judgment that the IFS saying "many millions more" would have to pay more tax under Labour is the more compelling line.<br />The Telegraph did not mention the scepticism about Tory promises until the sixth of eleven paragraphs, and gave the examination of the Conservative manifesto a total of three sentences.<br />The Times acknowledged in its second par that the IFS - and the Resolution Foundation i a separate report - had looked at both manifestos, but did not get to the doubts about the Conservative promises until the ninth of its 13 paragraphs and then gave them a single sentence.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />Express and Sun readers were left to think that only Labour promises had been examined and found wanting.</div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/neutral-ifs_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;">Three papers - the i, Guardian and Metro - took a neutral stance, focusing on the "plague on both your houses" line. The Guardian swiftly moved into the criticisms of the Conservative plans, giving that the top half of the story, with a passing acknowledgement that the attack on Labour was "scathing" before returning to that further down.<br />The i, yet again, was completely even-handed - apparently the only paid-for Fleet Street paper capable of being so - to the extent that it spelt out the IFS verdicts on various aspects of the manifestos under separate headings in a sidebar.<br />Metro also went straight down the line with equal to-the-point coverage of the two parties in its brief story.</div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/ifs-mirror_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span>The Mirror meanwhile ignored the story altogether. Unless you count a sentence at the end of an anti-Johnson story saying "His plans to invest in public services have been criticised by experts for their lack of ambition."</span><br /><span>Which experts and where are not explained. I rather suspect it was neither the IFS nor the Resolution Foundation.</span></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[November 28]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-28]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-28#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Thu, 28 Nov 2019 16:18:19 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-28</guid><description><![CDATA[       This is paragraph 4 of the first section of the Editors' Code, which all of our national newspaper editors follow.At election time, that rule is stretched to - and beyond - what might be regarded as its reasonable limits. We know which side our newspapers are on; readers expect some level of spin.But at what point should we draw the line and say "Enough!"?Take today's story about documents relating to trade talks with the US, which Jeremy Corbyn says prove the "NHS is up for sale". Do the [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/code_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;">This is paragraph 4 of the first section of the Editors' Code, which all of our national newspaper editors follow.<br />At election time, that rule is stretched to - and beyond - what might be regarded as its reasonable limits. We know which side our newspapers are on; readers expect some level of spin.But at what point should we draw the line and say "Enough!"?<br />Take today's story about documents relating to trade talks with the US, which Jeremy Corbyn says prove the "NHS is up for sale". Do they? That's a legitimate question for journalists to ask. In the news pages you'd expect a report of the claim and verdicts of expert and interested parties on the validity of that claim.&nbsp;<br />Old school journalists might play it completely straight - as here:<br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/nhs-straight_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;">But it is equally valid - if galling for Labour supporters - for a sceptical newspaper to focus on the rejection of the argument, rather than the claim itself. As the whitetops did today.</div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/nhs-tory_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;">When it comes to the redtops, they are always likely to be a bit more aggressive. Was it a "sick joke" and a "stunt" as The Sun says? Is that fact or opinion dressed up as fact?<br />And what about the Mirror? Is that document "proof" that the NHS is "for sale", as it says. Medicines for the NHS were certainly mentioned in the paper, but there does not appear to have been any conclusion. What certainly hasn't happened is that the NHS has been "sold to vultures".<br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/nhs1_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;">And so finally we come to the Telegraph. The headline below sits above the main inside story in its election coverage today. It is a news story, not an opinion piece, nor even a sketch.&nbsp;<br />This cannot, by any measure, be regarded as a news headline. It doesn't give the reader a clue what it's about. It is entirely opinion. And it isn't even a good heading.&nbsp;</div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/dead-cat_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[November 27]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-27]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-27#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Wed, 27 Nov 2019 18:06:40 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-27</guid><description><![CDATA[The whitetops         The Express is aimed at the elderly, so stories about pensions are hot.&#8203;The Mail is aimed at women, so stories about women get a following wind.Hardly surprising, then, that for nearly a decade they've been concerned about the raising of the state pension age for women. It's been a scandal, a crisis, a betrayal, causing outrage and misery.         The Mail was beating this drum only last month...         Imagine, then, what these papers might have said if the Conserva [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2 class="wsite-content-title"><font size="5">The whitetops</font></h2>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/express-pensions_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">The Express is aimed at the elderly, so stories about pensions are hot.<br />&#8203;The Mail is aimed at women, so stories about women get a following wind.<br />Hardly surprising, then, that for nearly a decade they've been concerned about the raising of the state pension age for women. It's been a scandal, a crisis, a betrayal, causing outrage and misery.</span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/mail-pensions_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">The Mail was beating this drum only last month...</span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/betrayal_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">Imagine, then, what these papers might have said if the Conservatives had decided to do the right thing by the "betrayed generation"? "Boris promises justice" or some such? <br />&#8203;We don't have to imagine too hard. Here's the Express when it thought there was about to be a reverse in 2011</span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/pensions-joy_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">But it was Labour that rode to the rescue...so here's the reality this week.<br />&#8203;It seems that if you're a "Waspi"&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">Mail or Express reader you can be jettisoned for the greater cause of Mr Johnson.</span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/waspis_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <h2 class="wsite-content-title"><font size="5">Telegraph and Mirror</font></h2>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/published/page-7_14.jpg?1574878299" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">Two thoughts on today's election&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">press coverage. That the Mail would give four spreads to bashing Corbyn is no surprise. The Telegraph's antipathy is also well documented. But when you have the anti-semitism 'gift', why overegg with Johnson's surmise on what Corbyn might think on the union?</span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/spread_130_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">Second, I bang on about the rightwing press veering into propaganda. There are more of them than pro-Labour papers, but they are not the only ones failing. The Mirror's election coverage is pretty awful too. Today's splash was a good diversion for Corbyn, but he rabbi story and the Labour leader's&nbsp; response is too big to be hidden like this.<br />None of the popular papers is doing its job of informing the voting public. If you're looking for something small and snappy, the i&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">is the only one making any real attempt at even-handedness.<br />ut people care more about the Jungle and Jose. And therein lies our fate.</span><br /></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[November 26]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-26]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-26#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Tue, 26 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-26</guid><description><![CDATA[Daily Mail         Two wrongs don't make a right. Anti-semitism and Islamaphobia are both abhorrent. The Tory Press is making capital out of allegations against the Labour party. They have every right to publish what the chief rabbi says. Here's the Mail today.The Mail is hard on Labour candidates who are found wanting. On its Rabbi spread today it reports that one is being investigated over a false address allegation. Last week it listed Corbyn's "dirty dozen" and their misdemeanours, including [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2 class="wsite-content-title"><font size="5">Daily Mail</font></h2>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/front_289_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">Two wrongs don't make a right. Anti-semitism and Islamaphobia are both abhorrent. The Tory Press is making capital out of allegations against the Labour party. They have every right to publish what the chief rabbi says. Here's the Mail today.<br />The Mail is hard on Labour candidates who are found wanting. On its Rabbi spread today it reports that one is being investigated over a false address allegation. Last week it listed Corbyn's "dirty dozen" and their misdemeanours, including anti-semitic or misogynistic tweets.</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/antisemite_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">It seems less enthusiastic about calling out anti-Muslim rhetoric from Tory candidates. Like Karl McCartney in Lincoln, who has apologised for retweeting Stephen Yaxley Lennon's views on "Muslim paedophiles". This story from the Sunday Mirror didn't make the Mail....</span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/mccartney_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">Mr McCartney did, however, make an appearance in the paper last week. On a spread about "voter fraud". He went to the police to claim that students had registered twice in 2017. When he lost by miles. The police found nothing amiss. "But he's not so sure"...</span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/anti-muslim_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">In fact, there<strong> is </strong>nothing amiss in making more than one attempt to register. If you don't think (or have forgotten) that you're registered and go online to do so just before the deadline, no harm done. You won't be listed twice. Better do that than lose your vote.<br />And&nbsp;you <strong>can</strong>&nbsp;register at two addresses - whether you are a student or have a second home, like all those Tory MPs. You won't be able to vote twice. </span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RegisterToday?src=hashtag_click">Register today</a>.&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">Then choose where your vote will be most effective.</span></div>  <h2 class="wsite-content-title"><font size="5">The Sun</font></h2>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/panic_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">So is he the most sensible man in Britain (page 8-9) .... or a man whose panic is off the scale (page 10)?<br /><br />While we're looking at The Sun, I see the head on the leader is "War on Boris".&nbsp;Remainers are being too mean to him. And, you may recall The Telegraph's Allison Pearson tweeting that the media&nbsp; had a pathological hatred of him. So hats off to The Sun&nbsp;</span><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">for redressing the balance. Here is its coverage of the war on Boris since the start of the election campaign:</span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/boris-pages_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph">...and here is its coverage of Mr Corbyn:</div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/corbyn-pages_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <h2 class="wsite-content-title"><font size="5">Metro</font></h2>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/page-7_13_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;"><span style="color:rgb(20, 23, 26)">It comes to something when the Prime Minister basically saying "I'm not lying"&nbsp; is the main Tory coverage headline in the country's most-read national newspaper.</span></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[November 21]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-21]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-21#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Thu, 21 Nov 2019 18:07:08 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-21</guid><description><![CDATA[       This is not true. It may not be in the manifesto.The promise, such as it is, is to raise the NI threshold from next April so that it eventually&nbsp;reaches &pound;12,500 to match the income tax threshold - which will probably be higher than that by the time NI reaches that level.&nbsp;For now, the best voters can hope for is enough to buy an extra cup of coffee a week.And it's not "for all" as the Express says. He's not giving EVERYONE &pound;460 a year, as the Mail says. It's not for th [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/ni-cuts_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div class="paragraph" style="text-align:left;">This is not true. It may not be in the manifesto.<br />The promise, such as it is, is to raise the NI threshold from next April so that it <em>eventually&nbsp;</em>reaches &pound;12,500 to match the income tax threshold - which will probably be higher than that by the time NI reaches that level.&nbsp;<br />For now, the best voters can hope for is enough to buy an extra cup of coffee a week.<br />And it's not "for all" as the Express says. He's not giving EVERYONE &pound;460 a year, as the Mail says. It's not for the homeless. It's not for the unemployed. It's not for stay-at-home parents or part-time workers who earn less than about &pound;160 per week.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />&#8203;If this were a genuine tax promise, it would be a huge story. But it isn't. It's something that fell out of Boris Johnson's mouth while at a motor industry factory. On the day that the Liberal Democrats launched their manifesto, it was the top political story on the BBC's Ten o'clock News and the main election story in most papers.&nbsp;<br />That's their choice. News judgments are subjective. But can't the Mail, Express and Sun - from which the cuttings above are taken - at least put the words in Johnson's mouth and present them as a hope or even a promise rather than the gospel truth. Which it is not.<br />&#8203;Are we being served?</div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[November 20]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-20]]></link><comments><![CDATA[http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-20#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Wed, 20 Nov 2019 11:26:37 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/random-thoughts/november-20</guid><description><![CDATA[                                           [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/green-20-11_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div><div style="height: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 100%;"></div> <hr class="styled-hr" style="width:100%;"></hr> <div style="height: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 100%;"></div></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/gloves_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div><div style="height: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 100%;"></div> <hr class="styled-hr" style="width:100%;"></hr> <div style="height: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 100%;"></div></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/tory-headlines_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div><div style="height: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 100%;"></div> <hr class="styled-hr" style="width:100%;"></hr> <div style="height: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 100%;"></div></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="http://www.sub-scribe2015.co.uk/uploads/2/1/4/5/21458448/specs_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>  <div><div style="height: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 100%;"></div> <hr class="styled-hr" style="width:100%;"></hr> <div style="height: 20px; overflow: hidden; width: 100%;"></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>