Gossip

You know what? As a society, I reckon we must be doing pretty well.

There are still just as many breaking news stories and outpourings of outrage and people walking up and down the street with placards full of puns, and there are still just as many current affairs stories and infomercials identifying new injustices and urgent problems on telly, but it’s the subject matter that’s important.

We often forget that there are populations in other countries experiencing war, famine, poverty, deadly epidemics, corrupt despotic dictators and unbelievable levels of government oppression and censorship.

Continue reading "We’re either doing great, or we’re totally screwed" »

The end of the News of the World as we know it. I can’t help but feel partly responsible. It’s not because I ever worked for the paper masquerading as a fake sheik exposing celebrity transsexuals, randy bishops and corrupt snooker stars.

It’s not because – as a writer for a News Ltd publication – I feel infected by some sort of communicable corporate unscrupulousness. It’s not even because I belong to the broad – and now broadly disgraced – field of journalism.

Nope. The real reason I feel partly culpable for the foul play of this nasty little tabloid is because I like reading about grubby celebrity scandals. And grubby celebrity scandals often require grubby journalistic tactics.

Continue reading "In our own way, we all love a little News of The World" »