BlahWar

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London and renowned authority on the history of British newspapers is apparently on the verge of apologising for his recent Nazi jibe at a reporter for the Evening Standard.

Somehow, in preparation for this apology and according to the Guardian newspaper, he is going to ratchet up his row with Associated Newspapers by highlighting claims about a party that took place 13 years ago. It is alleged that at this party members of the newspaper group dressed up as Nazis.

This issue seems to have sparked off something similar to a BlogWar in the mainstream media. A BlahWar if you like:

The claim [Nazi dress party] has been repeated several times by the satirical magazine Private Eye, most recently a fortnight ago, and has been seized upon by another of Associated's enemies, the Daily Express. The two papers had a deal which obliged the Express to stay away from stories about Associated's past support for Hitler, but following the Mail's publication last Friday of mafia threats to the Express's publisher, Richard Desmond, the agreement seems to have been set aside.

It's tragic to see the authoritative and well respected print media going large at each other like this. I trust that the Guardian will act as a kind of public spirited UN force in the matter and call in the Americans to sort it all out.

Posted by John at February 21, 2005 11:37 AM | TrackBack