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The lefty who moved to the right

The lefty who moved to the right

Yorkshireman Sir Bernard Ingham who died on 24 February aged 90 is best known for being Margaret Thatcher’s high profile press secretary a post he held for eleven years. He was regarded as a highly effective propagandist for the Thatcher cause. But he was not always a...

Failing to defend press standards

The other day I came across a surprising quotation from Sir Alan Moses (see below in paragraph 5).  He was the first head of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), the latest incarnation of what passes for a UK press regulator. Ipso came into being...

An Inspector Calls

The other week I watched for the second time the 2015 TV film An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley, based on a play that revolves around the apparent suicide of a young woman called Eva Smith. As was the case when I first saw it, I found it gripping from beginning to...

Government finally responds to the Cairncross Review

Almost a year after it was published, the government has finally responded the recommendations of Dame Frances Cairncross’s review into the sustainability of the UK news industry (see my 20 February 2019 blog at: http://thespark.me.uk/?p=1074 ) . Whilst accepting most...