"What? Aaah no. Bastard."
"Uh, uh"
"It's a bloodbath. An utter bloodbath. It's like Watergate if Nixon was made to look whiter than white and Woodward and Bernstein had been fired from the Washington Post."
"Yes. Yes."
"Good. I would have gone with them. And cheered him."
"[[Deleted because it's potentially libelous...]]"
"Well they can just go to hell..."
"[[Deleted because it's a family weblog...]]"
"Oh well he just deserves a good slapping around the face."
At which point the man's eyes popped out of his head and he walked away. The best piece I read today about recent events was Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian as he sketched the reaction in the press gallery during Hutton's reading of the report:
"For the press benches, this was all too much. Several journalists began first to sniff, then to snort and finally to chuckle their derision. Jeremy Paxman, for once barred from asking questions, was shaking his head in bemusement as each new finding in favour of the government came down from the bench. When Mr Scarlett's subconscious was introduced, the room seemed to vibrate with mockery."Today made me very angry. I love the BBC and I love the things the BBC has done under Greg Dyke. Under his guidance the corporation has become the most coherent media organisation it's been in years and if I'd been working there I would have been standing outside with the rest of BBC Online.
Essentially it's impossible for any journalist with a story about the government and its accountabilty to the people will think twice about using the story, no matter which media organisation they work for. There are still too many unanswered questions and I can't wait for the moment in ten years when something approaching the actual truth about what happened with the dossier, the BBC, the government and Lord Hutton comes to light.
No comments:
Post a Comment