Mic Wright

Nov 12, 2024 | perspectivemedia.com | Mic Wright |Viv Groskop

As I sat down to write this column, a tundra of white space stretched out before me, empty but for the blinking cursor goading me to get on with it. A blank page provides a good example of how freedom can feel – in theory you can fill it however you please but in practice you are constrained in so many ways. I’m not free to write whatever I want here because this issue has a theme (freedom) and I’ve agreed with the editor on how I’ll approach that topic in these 900 words.

Oct 8, 2024 | theneweuropean.co.uk | Mic Wright

Last week, the political journalist Isabel Oakeshott set the cat among the social media pigeons by suggesting that the prime minister has a secret. “There have long been rumours about Keir Starmer’s private life,” she said, speaking on TalkTV, where she holds the rather grand title of international editor. “They certainly aren’t to do with any doubts around his sexuality, if I can put it delicately.

Oct 1, 2024 | theneweuropean.co.uk | Mic Wright

No less an expert in editorial malpractice than former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie greeted Michael Gove’s appointment as the new man in charge at the Spectator by writing on X: “[He] has three qualities which I feel will make him an inspired choice as Editor.

Aug 6, 2024 | brokenbottleboy.substack.com | Mic Wright

Previously: The 'Talent'Huw Edwards' conviction leaves the BBC with another set of serious questions to answer and allows The Sun to cry vindication. This morning The Times published a “rogues’ gallery” of those it says are responsible for “fanning the flames of violence”. It includes Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Robinson), Andrew Tate, Nigel Farage and Lawrence Fox. All of them deserve their share of the blame but others are conspicuous in their absence.

Aug 1, 2024 | brokenbottleboy.substack.com | Mic Wright

Previously: The NoteI was deeply critical of The Sun’s story about Huw Edwards last year. I was wrong. While that case was not the one that ended up with the BBC’s former top news presenter pleading guilty to possessing vile images of child sexual abuse, the actions described — paying a much younger person for intimate photos — were a clue to a pattern of behaviour. That Edwards was not found to have committed a crime then did not mean that there was no abuse of power and position.