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Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

Letter to the press

Some members of the journalist profession need to be explained things slowly and clearly. Scott Burgess undertakes that ungrateful task and tries to get the message through to Polly Toynbee.

… Welcome to the new media world, Polly.

Up until now, an information elite has been able to misrepresent and manufacture fact with virtual impunity – sometimes accidentally, sometimes as a deliberate means of pushing a chosen agenda.

For example, if a newspaper polemicist wanted to contend that “Scandinavian countries are best of all” at overcoming obesity, it was unlikely that many would notice and connect the fact that: “Norway has the highest percentage of overweight men in Europe, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO).”

Those who did notice such “anomalies” had no easy means of communicating them to others interested in issues of journalistic integrity.

As you see, that’s changing now. What you (and many others) are in the process of learning is that, from now on, reportorial sloppiness and dishonesty will be noted, exposed, and punished – quickly and very, very publicly.

Journalists who are accurate and honest have little to fear – the facts will out. Their less capable (and less truthful) colleagues risk the humiliation of public ridicule.

Best of all, in this new media environment the once-wise maxim “never get in an argument with someone who buys ink by the barrel” no longer applies – we all have barrels now. Ardent proponents of equality would no doubt applaud this development, were they not the ones whose superior status was now under threat.

Very Truly Yours,

Scott Burgess
The Daily Ablution
London

For more quality time with bloggers and Polly, follow the path that lead to the above document.

9 comments to Letter to the press

  • GCooper

    Thank you for that, Mr.Syme, how nice to see Polly Pot so firmly nailed for the lying toad that she is.

    Also good to see that other Marxist maniac, the terrorist-supporting Yasmin Alibhai-Brown being skewered by the same writer.

    Looks like I now have another damn blog to read each day…

  • Pete_London

    Blimey, Toynbee and the Yazzmonster both done in royal fashion. That’s value for money.

  • Jake

    Bloggers are the reason freedom will continue in America.

    The media is now attempting to pick who will run the government-the people be dammed.

  • drscroogemcduck

    I’d be fat if I lived in Europe as well. I can’t get enough of German gingerbread. mmmm gingerbread

  • Verity

    Pete_London – The Yazzmonster! Ha ha ha! She is monstrously ugly, that’s for sure, both inside and out.

  • Richard Easbey

    I’m with G. Cooper–looks like I now have YET ANOTHER excellent blog to read every day… bookmarking it now, thanks.

  • I very much appreciate both this post and the kind comments. Thanks.

  • Adam Ant

    Guess what peeps? The Yazzmonster – Yasmin Alibhai Brown- was just on the morning TV Breakfast show here in Malaysia – as ugly as ever – inside and out. The older she gets the more hideous too. Gesticulating like a meglomaniac. Espousing how she always fights the British Government on her stand against multiculturalism (?). I’d love to quote more, but it was hard to stay awake… it all faded into a boring, egotistical, non-sensical haze… So replace Hendrix’s Purple Haze for Brown Haze, a poignant euphemism for the sh*t that comes out of her mouth. For those interested, you might find something on tv3.com.my but they are know as TV for Fools out here, so you might not. Aloha from Malaysia…

  • Adam Ant

    Guess what peeps? The Yazzmonster – Yasmin Alibhai Brown- was just on the morning TV Breakfast show here in Malaysia – as ugly as ever – inside and out. The older she gets the more hideous too. Gesticulating like a meglomaniac. Espousing how she always fights the British Government on her stand against multiculturalism (?). I’d love to quote more, but it was hard to stay awake… it all faded into a boring, egotistical, non-sensical haze… So replace Hendrix’s Purple Haze for Brown Haze, a poignant euphemism for the sh*t that comes out of her mouth. For those interested, you might find something on tv3.com.my but they are know as TV for Fools out here, so you might not. Aloha from Malaysia…