Previous | Next :: Santa Hat Skating Girl : Bryant Park : New York City | December 29, 2011, 9:52 pm

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I was listening to this rant by Will Self on Radio 4 ........... it is supposedly a summing up what's wrong with the British newspapers ...... and yet it neatly sums up for me what is wrong with the moral panic about British newspapers ........ its funny some one like Will Self who is supposed to be a sort of 'bad boy ex heroin addict' ends up with the same views as a Catholic priest might have against newspapers and their morals and the exposure of the morals of celebrities. In Britain it was always traditionally middle class repressed right wing church goer types personfified by Mary Whitehouse who would be ranting against the gutter press calling for it and TV to be further regulated and free newspapers to legislated out of existence.... but now they are joined by liberal types too.

Im uncomfortable with this new rush to legislate against a free press in this atmosphere....... listen to Will Self....... this is just the stuff of moral panic......... I can't help thinking lets not fall for this ........ we need a free press to oversee the elites in our society...... a free press is a tool of the people against the government....... we don't want government to regulate what should be printed.

Here is a quote from Will self's piece :

"A free people does indeed require a free press, one that is continually evolving to fit HL Mencken's definitions of the role of responsible journalism - that it should "afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted".

The trouble is that we are no longer a free people. Instead, addicted to prurient titillation and apathetic to the point of nihilism, the entire sweep of our recent history proclaims us to be a nation that knows the price of everything - especially our houses - and the value of nothing."

This really is just the stuff of moral panic....... Proclaiming the people of Britain are not decent enough for a free press ......... Thanks for this Will....... spoken like an aristocrat of old or a current Catholic Priest who would like newspapers not to look into his activities too much.

It's depressing because its possible all this moral panic will really have an affect on newspapers and journalism in all UK media. We could well get privacy legislation sweeping away our free press and damaging open society in Britain.

Cheers Jez XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

PS....... No complaining Amin...... come on...... Its traditional to run this picture of the Santa Girl skating in New York City every year....... hehehehehe......... :-))))))))))))) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

www.jezblog.com

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