The UK Tabloid Press

Yes, I know it’s easy to point a finger at the ‘gutter’ newspapers for all that has gone wrong in the world over the past half century, but there is some truth to the fact that their main purpose seems to be to stir up their readers into a frenzy by muck racking the Royals and other celebrities, including politicians.

And, yes, we watched the first half of the Netflix documentary about Harry and Meghan, last night.

We’re not immune, here in Canada. Our MSM feed each morning includes many examples of the nasty lies that are promoted by one side of (any) political divide or the other. As I reported previously, the National Post tends to take a jaundiced Conservative viewpoint of anything the Liberals (and Trudeau) have done. And, often, we get snapshots of what’s happening in the tabloid press in the United Kingdom. (The implication is that Royalty sells, even when airing their dirty linen in public.) And then we wonder why The Crown is so popular on this side of the pond.

One of the commentators in last night’s show explained how the ‘social contract’ works: the British Royal Family are paid by the taxpayers; therefore, they have to be available to the UK Press, who call the shots as to what is written about them. Effectively, the Royals are part of the UK zoo, and have to perform like trained seals, even when they are on holiday. But as Harry and Meghan have discovered, even walking away from royal duties doesn’t exempt you from scrutiny. In fact, it intensifies the public interest. And the public are the ones that buy the newspapers.

I’ll comment on the ‘colour’ issue when I’ve seen the rest of the documentary, next week.

Until then, TTFN.