News in Links

A couple of weeks back Professor David Nutt, an advisor on the subject of drugs, was in the media because some things he said contradicted the government's position on the reclassification of cannabis.

Soon after Alan Johnson sacked Professor Nutt claiming that he had campaigned against government policy.

I thought there was something fishy about this, it didn't seem to me like the statements were campaigning, even with the media leaping on them in the way they did. But with work and family I didn't have time to look beyond the headlines. Turns out my feeling was right. Dr Evan Harris, (the Lib Dem MP for Oxford West) covers this in his blog, systematically taking apart the sacking and then Alan Johnson's response to criticism.

I'm not sure whether the campaigning line, that Johnson is still sticking to is his own misunderstanding of the situation, or whether it is an interpretation that he keeps restating in the hope people believe it.

I think one of the funniest lines on this was spoken by Danielle Ward on the news quiz. The moral of the story being if you want people to go along with your ill-thought out policy, you need to pay them, or at least give them a peerage.

Yours truely, angry mob

The big story recently has been the reaction to a piece in the Daily Mail by columnist Jan Moir about the death of Steven Gateley. To date the press complaints commission have received 21,000 complaints about the piece.

I found the original piece mildly offensive, but that's nothing compared to what happened next. Instead of being chastened Moir hit back at her critics, calling the complaints the results of a mischievous and orchestrated twitter campaign.

I am amused by this. I think back to the last campaign orchestrated against someone who has offended people in society. What was it, oh yes, the campaign against the BBC over a couple of lines in a radio broadcast . Orchestrated by- The Daily Mail. That campaign was mischievous- as many had not heard the broadcast but just wanted to stick it to. Compared to this campaign where I feel people are genuinely aggrieved by what was written.

Moir's column was a written piece, not an off the cuff comment like that made on Radio 2, and what's more she has not accepted she did anything wrong. Ross and Brand both apologized for what they did. Ross was punished, while Brand resigned.

If the Daily Mail are consistent they should take on board that this column was far worse than the Ross_brand prank call incident and act as they feel appropriately.

Who to believe?

Yesterday the Sun carried a story about the fact David Tennant, Russel T Davies, and other key members of the Doctor Who production team are moving on after the 2008 series. Only the spin was that they would all walk out at the same time and this was a plot to axe the show.

Today the Guardian have their own unnamed source, said that RTD was always going to move on after a while, and that the work schedule is too gruelling. Their source recons the BBC will not let Doctor Who disappear now it's so popular and will look for replacements for the key players.

Speculation among online Doctor Who fandom reckon that the Sun's source is none other than their own wild and fevered speculation on Doctor Who fan boards. The Sun has got it right, but fans put this down to the infinite number of monkeys using typewriters theory.

Meejah

Had a successful day yesterday and purchased everything we needed more quickly than expected. So we then visited the national Media Museum in Bradford.

Unfortunately some inconsiderate so and so had built a city centre between where we were and the museum, so after a bit of driving round and some squeezing into a very tight on street parking space we arrived.

The museum is really excellent. I've only visited twice before, once organized by Simon Bubb three or four years ago, and once way back when I was about 10. Last time much of the TV gallery was the same as ever and looking ever so slightly tired. This time the TV experience has been rehoused in nice shiny new displays, and it looks all the better for it. Sarah had a go at reading the news on an autocue, and we both had a go at operating cameras. A new interactive exhibit demonstrates how TV signals get to you via cable Satellite and terrestrial routes, and I thought that was quite clever.

On the way back I decided to go a different way to normal, and ended up taking a more direct route into Bingly than anticipated. Sarah may describe this as me getting lost, but I wouldn't!

Then back home for some very important Internet shopping!