Saturday 30 May 2009

How Journalism Works


Saturday’s edition of the Daily Telegraph contained two very interesting articles.


The Leader Column was entirely devoted to a piece explaining why a vote for UKIP is a wasted vote.

On the following page, Deputy Editor Simon Heffer wrote that he would be voting for UKIP!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Or maybe it's just your dear friend Mr Heffer is still as in touch as he was when demanding Sir Alan Haselhurst paid back £12,000 he'd already paid back!

Don't Call Me Dave said...

Mr Hope

I am surprised at you for swallowing Iain Dale’s line on this. Simon Heffer said he would challenge Sir Alan Haselhurst unless he returned the money AND apologised. So far he has only done the former and the challenge is still on!

Anonymous said...

Oh dear! Poor voters in that constituency.

Has Mr Heffer published his expenses for the past 4 years online yet.

I wonder how many bottles of good Claret are on that :)

"Journalists for low expenses" - what a principled campaign!

Would Mr Heffer run for Speaker? Could he stand being paid to sit on his arse all day long, I wonder!

Don't Call Me Dave said...

By your words, you reveal yourself to be a friend of the troughing classes!

It is none of our business how much Mr Heffer gets paid or claims on allowances. That is a private matter for Telegraph shareholders. If you think he gets paid too much, buy a different paper. I thought you understood how capitalism works Mr Hope?

Anonymous said...

I am no friend of the troughing classes.

I completely concur with you, Mr Miller, insofar as what Mr Heffer does at his workplace is a matter for him and his employers.

However once he puts himself forward as some 'Martin Bell' figure, specifically on the platform that he is a man of virtue and of a character that would not exploit an expenses system, one would think that was a matter of public interest - should he actually stand.

Would the voters in that constituency not demand to know the character of the person before them?

Or is that too much transparency for a candidate to be exposed too?

Don't Call Me Dave said...

Well perhaps Mr Heffer is willing to voluntarily disclose the information, but I don’t believe that the public should have a right to know how much a person working exclusively in the private sector earns or claims in expenses.

Of course, once a person is elected to public office it is a different matter and private earnings do, to some extent, become a matter of public interest. We would want to check expense claims to make sure that public officials were not claiming from their private employers and the taxpayer for the same item of expenditure (perish the thought).

Also, we have a right to know whether private earnings have come about through holding public office. Ministers from all parties have accepted lucrative directorships which they would not have received had they not held important public positions. Perhaps such earnings should be deducted from MPs pension pots. After all, in the real world state benefits are means tested, so why not for politicians also?