How can Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan pose as our moral arbiters,
cards against humanity review?
As the News of the World hacking scandal continues to grow, the moral compass of public life seems to be spinning crazily in all directions.
For just look at the people touring the broadcasting networks to gloat at the disaster that has not merely shut down one of Britain’s oldest Sunday newspapers, but threatens to destabilise Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. in 1995. But to bring up that unsavoury history,
cards for humanity game, as a fellow panellist did on the show, was in Grant’s outraged view ‘cheap and pathetic’.
The sound of scores being settled here is as shrill as the hypocrisy. For heaven’s sake, these preening luvvies ruthlessly manipulate the media in order to burnish their profiles and their fortunes.
Indeed,
cards against humanity in stores, Coogan even admitted in his next breath that he saw no problem in dealing with the film and TV arms of Rupert Murdoch’s empire.
Yet these sanctimonious celluloid sybarites have the gall to pose as moralisers when that same media dares lift the curtain to reveal the sordid reality beneath the image,
funny cards against humanity.
Leg to stand on? Former motorsport chief Max Mosley has revealed he believes he was a victim of phone hacking but his chequered life caused him the most damage
Even more surreal was the revelation that the former Formula One chief Max Mosley, who was caught by the News of the World in a sadomasochistic orgy with prostitutes, has been quietly funding a number of individual phone hacking court cases against that newspaper.
Now, there’s no question that if the allegations against the News of the World turn out to be true, it will be seen to have debauched not just the media, but political life and the police, too.
And, of course, it’s right and essential that the book should be thrown at anyone in its parent body News International who may have connived in this.
Nevertheless, the notion that people who use prostitutes, indulge in sadomasochistic orgies or engage in serial lewd behaviour should become the moral arbiters of the nation is clearly ridiculous.
‘They were already in the gutter,’ said Steve Coogan about the News of the World. Well, excuse me Mr Coogan, but you, Hugh Grant and Max Mosley got there first.
In a democracy, it’s essential that questionable behaviour or worse by people in the public eye who act as role models should be exposed to public scrutiny. Of course, they would dearly love to prevent the Press from thus exposing them. And now they have been handed the perfect opportunity.
Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International and Rupert Murdoch chairman of News Corporation were all smiles in spite of rocking the media world by closing down the News of the World
For that reason, those in the media who can scarcely contain their excitement at the scent of Rupert Murdoch’s blood in the water may soon find the gloating dies in their throats.
For now a head of steam is building up not just against the Press Complaints Commission, which demonstrably failed to grasp what was happening at the News of the World, but against the whole system of Press self regulation.
Indeed, the Prime Minister David Cameron has said the entire Press needs to be cleaned up, and that journalists must ‘never again be solely responsible for policing themselves’.
It’s true that journalists figure even lower in public esteem than politicians. But whether or not the public are in a mood to realise it, the fact remains that the political class would dearly love to muzzle the Press and democracy would suffer as a result.
For any system of outside regulation would inevitably enable those in public life with something to hide to do so.
It’s hard not to detect in all this hysteria that MPs can see the chance to get their own back on the Press for exposing the scandal over their abuse of expenses. Moreover, Mr Cameron himself is hardly a disinterested party on this issue.
End of an era: A copy of the front page of the last edition of the British tabloid newspaper, the News of the World
For the scandal has seriously damaged him by shining an unforgiving spotlight upon his own appalling judgment in hiring Andy Coulson as his spin doctor.