Much has already been said about the Andy Gray and Richard Keys story, with Charlie Brooker supplying one of more interesting slants on it, but we would like to point out The Sun?s sweetly optimistic approach to it on? Monday, the day after Andy?s original on-air gaffe and was tucked away on page ten in a teeny article sharing a column with a three line article about falling prices in Portugal.
The incident was treated more like something from a television out-takes show than the final piece in the trinity* of inconvenience that's got Murdoch?s News International into a bit of a tizz.
The story was over- he had apologised and everyone was laughing about it whilst slapping the arses of passing waitresses by lunchtime. Unfortunately, the same day the Daily Mail, those masters of creating broadcasting controversies from the sparsest of ingredients, dedicated page 3 to it, and a shitstorm was born.
By Friday, the Mail were tiring of the backlash, so created the backlash of the backlash with a photograph of Richard Keys? wife (every inch a woman Mail readers would be able to relate to) serving cake to journalists whilst dismissing the story as just ‘boys being boys’.
One of our favourite pastimes is watching the tabloids squirming when they have a story with reactionary ingredients but for some reason can't quite bring themselves to stir it up themselves. They?ll write articles and litter it with inflammatory clues, and just pray the public decides to be outraged without the usual encouragement.
For instance the Daily Mail have dedicated a disproportionate amount of coverage to Jonathan Ross announcing (well, mentioning at least) that his daughter is a lesbian. Rather irritatingly for them, he did so in a casually dignified way.
The Mail have since repeatedly found new angles on the story whilst hoping that it's controversial, or even just newsworthy, by virtue of having the words ?Jonathan?, ?Ross? and ?lesbian? in it.
Or take their uncharacteristically unopinionated coverage of Elton John adopting. You would think that they were big supporters of gay adoption. That didn't seem to be much in evidence on Monday?s page 14. On the left-hand side the editorial, in response to a Barnado?s report that white couples are prevented from adopting babies from ethnic backgrounds, the paper preached that…
?all that should truly matter is the ability of the adoptive parents to a stable, caring and secure home?.
On the right hand side of the page Melanie Phillips was less hesitant about condemning organisations putting an agenda above the welfare of children. In her piece she explained very clearly for those of us unfortunate enough to have a sense of perspective, that Catholic adoption agencies being forced to cease their policy of not allowing gays and lesbians to adopt was evidence of homosexuals being ?the new McCarthyites?. **
So is it that they are scared of Elton John?s hissy fits, lawyers, or his Mail-reading fans? Either way, there's a lot of fun to be had watching the paper acting like a prude on a nudist beach frantically looking around confused at why no-one else seems outraged.
Headline of the week that bore no relation to reality goes to The Star for…
?Alex and Andre unite against Jordan- Cage-fighter joins fellow ex-hubby Pete?.
This strategic alliance simply consisted of Alex Reid refusing to comment on his separation from Jordan. The conclusion being that this was, y?know, kinda like the way Pete cares about the kids, so they are therefore ?united in keeping their dignity?. That's the dignity shared by a (bad) transvestite, reality TV-starring topless model-marrying cage fighter and a tabloid-courting reality TV-starring, topless model-marrying ex-pop star. Rosa Parks ain't got nothing on those boys. Either way, hats off to The Star for basing a front page story around a ‘no comment’.
?and finally?
Childish headlines about Ed Balls that the Daily Mail?s copy editor must have been really tempted to drop words from
Monday- ?Miliband urged to rein in aggressive Ed Balls?
Tuesday- ??Explosion warning? over Balls and Miliband?***
*= the other two being the proposed buying of the remaining shares in Sky, and the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.
**= sorry for the patronising link to McCarthyism, but it seems unfair that you can’t fully enjoy the irony of this story just because you weren’t paying attention that day in history.
***= whist? Balls is the surname of a Labour politician, it is also slang for testicles. Thus exploding and/or aggressive balls is funny.
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