How do you report the latest suicide bombings in Israel? How about with a headline like: “Israel tightens curbs on Palestinians”? You’ve got to keep the focus on the real criminals, after all. Meanwhile, the Tories are filing a formal complaint against the left-wing corporation for blatant bias in the recent local elections. As one leading Tory puts it: “Just look at the fact that the BBC recruits entirely from advertisements in the Guardian. Obviously, media jobs are advertised in the Guardian, but it says something about where the centre of gravity in the BBC is.” More important, just look at what the Beeb’s disgruntled hacks read every day. Meanwhile, the latest BBC smear is against Private Jessica Lynch. Glenn has the goods. I remember the reporter, John Kampfner, from my Oxford days. He was a unreconstructed far-lefty. No doubt these days he’s a reconstructed one.
THEY ALL LOOK ALIKE TO GERMAINE: Germaine Greer complains about the replacement in Tony Blair’s government of Claire Short with Valerie Ann-Amos, the first black woman in a British cabinet. Greer’s unforgettable line:
Short’s successor as Secretary of State, Valerie Ann Amos, a Blairite look-alike for Condoleezza Rice, was raised by Blair to the peerage in 1997, and subsequently appointed Foreign Office Minister responsible for Africa, on the sole ground that he trusts her – a presidential move if ever there was one.
Excuse me? I fail to see the resemblance.
HITCH VERSUS SID: One journalist fact-checks another.
HOW HIP WE ARE: Blogging dominated the NYT’s Sunday Styles section. We finally made it. But do I have to wear black now?
The Dish 