Sorry but ...

On a friend's blog I recently received the response to some of my observations regarding a small back-room produced US publication 'What's British media journalism ever given the world?' The answer being in their view the tabloid, which is fair I guess and we also gave the world the paparazzi although this is an Italian word.

The modern tabloid and paparazzi are only a by-product of the way that the world has become so obsessed with celebrities which I know is not a uniquely British invention. Besides other countries have their equivalents such as Das Bild in Germany.

We have also given the world many paragons of virtue in the media such as the BBC which I understand is watched and listened to by many of our transatlantic friends so that they can receive an unbiased and accurate account of what is going on outside their borders. Our broadsheets such as the Guardian or the independent (although no longer a broadsheet it will always be a lifetime member of this club) are accurate and intelligent and even the Mirror which is a loathsome tabloid, spoke out against the war in Iraq.

US media journalism is responsible for a multitude of sins such as calling the previous election in Dubya's favour making it nigh on impossible for the Gore camp to claim victory without sounding like a bunch of whiney sore losers. The coverage of the war from the US media was grossly biased and incomplete acting only as a mouthpiece of the Bush/Cheney propaganda.

I should also imagine that they are responsible for the maleducation of the US public leading to Bush II as they should have been highlighting issues such as the terrible state of the US economy, the removal of civil liberties post 11th September and how Americans were hated even more passionately in the Middle East making them less safe than they have ever been rather than focusing on who did what in Vietnam and whether John Kerry's hair would allow him to be a suitable president.

I have no apologies for criticising the article as I would have done with most editions of the Norwich Evening News or the awful way in which the Daily Hate Mail or the Sun are written. Whenever you put anything in the public domain you can expect feedback be it good or bad as I'm sure I will receive in the comments from this if anyone bothers reading it. This freedom of speech is one of the things that the US prides in it's own constitution, you know the same one which allows you to sleep with an assault rifle up your backside.

That's enough yank bating for my blog as I do not wish to offend you all. Some of you are actually rather nice, one of my best friends is a yank and my mum married into them. Besides if it wasn't for us Europeans most of you wouldn't be there at all!