You who aren't on Twitter probably have the right idea but, in the medium's defence, it at least allows you to gawp at lots of absolutely fascinating behaviour.
(Shades of early 18th Century London and Bedlam?)
(Shades of early 18th Century London and Bedlam?)
For instance, earlier today I spotted young Lewis Goodall, soon to Newsnight's policy editor, giving the following tweet from the New Statesman's Stephen Bush a 'like':
Not surprising, but endlessly impressive that Robbie Gibb can type the words “former Sunday Telegraph editor” about Today’s editor and then write a whole screed about how her programme is too woke.
I can't find Lewis's 'like' now, but it was definitely there, so either I've mislaid it or he's taken flight and 'unliked' it - like that overly-partisan tweet he deleted the other night.
If I were a serious BBC defender I'd definitely 'unlike' Stephen's post too, because it's provides lots of large fish, an overly small barrel and a fully-loaded shotgun.
As you already know:
The other guest editors were (1) race-focused George the Poet, (2) eco-activist Greta Thunberg, (3) every Brexit haters' heroine Lady Hale and (4) cross-dressing artist Grayson Perry.
Plus, poor Charles got the two-hour Saturday show - unlike George, Greta and Lady (the three most 'woke' guest editors), who got three-hour editions.
And Charles - and some of his chosen guests - got by far the hardest time from the Today presenters (especially ultra-loyal-to-the-BBC Nick Robinson).
In many ways this can be added to the ever-growing heap of examples of 'complaints from both sides that are utter bilge.
Nick Robinson cannot stand criticism and the reason the Tories boycott Today is that he always interrupts anyone who says anything critical of his own world view... i.e. liberal, left leaning, humanist, and recently a bit "woke".
ReplyDeleteStephen Bush is not an altogether bad political analyst but it's not a very good point he makes there. George Osborne is an ex Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, responsible some would say for austerity...but if you read the London Evening Standard he edits, you will see that most of the content is relentlessly "woke". He may have veered back to the Conservatives, fearful of McDonnell in control of the City, but in terms of the big isses of cultural conservatism, mass immigration and PC multiculturalism, it couldn't be further from where most people in the country are.
ReplyDeleteAgree about Stephen Bush. Also, the Evening Standard has gone to the dogs under Osborne and most of the name columnists seem to have gone as well - he did have Clegg with a full page weekly column for a long time and I don't lament his loss but there were some quality ones too, even if I didn't agree with their views or their politics. Now it's been given over to cronies and the race obsessed like Hazarika, always going on about 'brown' people and spouting banalities, and that techy bloke from Osborne's time at the Treasury.
DeleteBy coincidence I saw a piece about the decline of The Standard just yesterday that made me laugh - so biting - although at the same time I lament the decline and perhaps imminent loss of a London paper:
'The Evening Standard, now owned by a Russian minigarch and a Saudi oil barrel, edited in absentia by the Tory politician George Osborne, is piling up losses. Its last two theatre critics were told they had to go because the paper can no longer afford them. Reviewing the West End was assigned to a chap on the features desk whose skill is writing celebrity interviews. He is not a critic. Criticism has died at London’s paper and there are none to mourn it as the freesheet piles up unread at Underground stations.'
https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/november-2019/whod-want-to-be-a-critic/
It may be piling up unread elsewhere but here in the south-western outer reaches, an ominous thing happened over a year ago when it suddenly stopped being delivered to the local railway station and Sainsbury's, and even the next larger town, where a lad used to hand out folded copies to hurrying passersby. I couldn't remember a time when we didn't have the regular van delivery of an evening paper. Presumably they couldn't afford the delivery costs any longer.
#LewisGoodhallliked runs a close second to #JohnSweeneyliked.
ReplyDeleteAnd that... is quite the achievement.