Censor humour failure
Freedom of speech
, Issue 1646
The paper devoted a front-page splash and editorial last week to attacking a suggestion from the Cabinet Office's honours forfeiture committee that peculiar plumber Charlie Mullins could be stripped of his OBE for making social media posts in what the paper said "might be termed a robust manner".
Illustrating where the Telegraph's current judgement on robustness lies, Mullins had called Sadiq Khan "the Muslim mayor" and suggested "someone should kill him".
In an editorial on the same topic in January, the Telegraph declared: "Free speech can be ugly, but it should be permitted. If ideas are good, then they will survive being tested by their opponents. If they prove to be bad, then it is better to expose them sooner rather than later. These benefits cannot be achieved if we only permit one officially recognised truth, and suppress as ‘misinformation' anything that seeks to question it."
So how does that work at the Telegraph itself?
Heath cliff
Last week a reader tried to leave an unabusive and not unconstructive comment on a piece by wacko columnist Allister Heath, pointing out that he "despised the Tories of the last 14 years; he loathes the Labour Party; and so far as I can judge, he has no faith in the Reform Party's ability to run the economy. So who does he look to protect the UK in the years ahead?"
He was immediately – and apparently automatically – informed that his account had been "banned from posting permanently" on the Telegraph website.
Meanwhile, one of the Telegraph's own hacks ventured into the comments section to address a reader who had made what she considered to be abusive comments about her reporting and call him a "cunt". For this, er, robustness she has been given a written warning and had her pay frozen for two years. Colleagues are outraged.
"She should be carried aloft in triumph. We all hate those below-the-line fuckers," points out one hack.
Next issue on sale: 17th April 2025
More top stories in the latest issue:
MULLEN: IT'S OVER
Reach CEO Jim Mullen is to leave after six years of slashing and burning – but will the new boss change the direction of the clickbait publisher?
DUMMY RUNNERS
As the Tortoise takeover of the Observer approaches, there is much queasiness among the (shrinking) staff still listed to move across with it.
ALLI OOPS!
Fresh from a furore over a police investigation into one of her unwise tweets, Allison Pearson appears to be inviting another visit from the Old Bill.
EXTENDED ADOLESCENCE
Having exhausted the obvious angles for stories about Netflix hit Adolescence, British media outlets have gone to desperate lengths to find links.
UNWISE GUY
The Telegraph is boosting the profile of a husband-and-wife team who seem determined to become the reactionary Richard and Judy.
BLOOD SUCKERS
The Mail on Sunday took aim at the "armchair detectives" bothering the family of Shanann Watts seven years after her killing – but ignored its own actions.
BIFOCAL SPECS
Spectator editor Michael Gove is conducting a balancing act while straddling separate UK and US editions, with the US version notably more pro-Trump.
