There's no end to what these Royals can do!

[Exiletyke]

How do you think the 2017 election Mirror front page should be regulated, MMM?

Just use the same pre published regulation criteria for all

[millmoormagic]

Who do you think would write the regulations and appoint the regulators, MMM?

How do you think the 2017 election Mirror front page should be regulated, MMM?

Nowhere have i said i agree with that headline, or the one from the sun, did you? I just think journalist's should be accountable, if the headlines are plainly made up, fabricated etc then there should be some sort of process that discourages that, or gives those on the receiving end chance of reply, you're now playing the lawyer's game of deflection once again, i don't want a soviet style regulation, neither do i want the present non regulation, something in between is, and always has been, the right way to go...don't you?

[rolymiller]

You miss an important point about newspaper choice Kerr. You say people naturally tend to choose right wing rags. I would argue that the reason they do this is more to do with readers wanting some thing easy to dip into at the breakfast table and nowt initially to do with political choice.

Most people aint bothered about politics generally when they buy a newspaper and tend to buy it to look at other things eg tv listings, sport, fashion, general news headlines etc it is only at Election times when they really take note of political opinions. The thing is lefty newspapers tend to be serious stuff eg the Guardian, Observer (I'm not going to put independent in cos it aint left). Because people dont want to wade through hard analysis they will avoid these kinds of papers. I know that this similarly applies similarly to right wing papers like the Times and Telegraph but here's when it gets naughty: Newspapers like the Sun, Mail, star, Express (Tory rags) all have that easy to readness if you like that you can read at the breakfast table BUT they are loaded with right wing messages as well.

During election times when people are choosing who to vote for these messages get screamed out on fronts of newspapers. Not only that left wing politics/ politicians are savaged at the same time. Its very clever what the Murdochs of this world do to win over potential left wing voters and floaters.

So in effect these newspapers hide their political message behind a veneer of trivia. Hard leftys will read the Guardian and Observer, Hard righties will read the Times/ Telegraph the floaters will read the crappy stuff eg Sun etc because it ie easy to read and that suits right wing newspaper owners because when it comes round to election time their audience is primed.

[Exiletyke]

Exactly right Roly

[rolymiller]

...Just to add for clarity, so in effect you don't have a balanced free choice. You can either read the hard left (2)/ right (2)newspapers or read the trivial newspapers which are really right wing newspapers but masquerading as breakfast table pap.(5).

Its all very cynical stuff and very subversive no wonder corbyn wants some control over it.

[millmoormagic]

...Just to add for clarity, so in effect you don't have a balanced free choice. You can either read the hard left (2)/ right (2)newspapers or read the trivial newspapers which are really right wing newspapers (5).

Interesting, so given roly's math, that's 7 right wing against 2 'left wing', a percentage of around 80% i believe.....

[KerrAvon]

Roly, you said yesterday that we should assume nothing. Today, to support your argument, you say: Most people aint bothered about politics generally when they buy a newspaper.

I'm guessing that you haven't polled anyone before making your assertion, so I'm guessing it was an assumption?

Do you regularly buy the Daily Mail for some thing easy to dip into at the breakfast table? Do you suppose MMM does? I won't ask about Exile as he is happy to quote from it when posting about Brexit.

Do you seriously believe that people don't notice the political bias of their newspaper of choice? I've been known to dip into The Sun, The Mirror and the Mail (whilst waiting in takeaways or if one has been left on the train) and their editorial positions are obvious, election season or not. They hide their positions behind nothing at all.

I can only speak for myself, but I wouldn't buy The Sun or Mail, because of the editorial positions they adopt (and wouldn't buy the Mirror because it's dull). Why should I believe that others would take a different stance?

Hard righters read the Mail, not The Times or Telegraph (nobody reads the latter any more).

Floaters read the easy stuff..? Did somebody call me patronising the other day?

[KerrAvon]

...Just to add for clarity, so in effect you don't have a balanced free choice. You can either read the hard left (2)/ right (2)newspapers or read the trivial newspapers which are really right wing newspapers but masquerading as breakfast table pap.(5).

Its all very cynical stuff and very subversive no wonder corbyn wants some control over it.

So Corbyn does want political control... A Ministry of Truth or are you planning to mouth the usual Corbynista whitewash about how he is actually a moderate soft Left kind of guy?

I'm grateful for your candour, but I will not be voting for state control of the media

[millmoormagic]

So Corbyn does want political control... A Ministry of Truth or are you planning to mouth the usual Corbynista whitewash about how he is actually a moderate soft Left kind of guy?

I'm grateful for your candour, but I will not be voting for state control of the media

I'm amazed that you think Corbyn is some kind of crazed hard left communist, maybe that's all the reading of the sun eh?

And nobody here is voting for state control either, accountability is the thing, do you think it's ok for the press to tap phones, for example?

[KerrAvon]

I know it's unlawful to tap phones, MMM. That's why a number of people have gone to prison for it.

So you've opted for the Corbynista whitewash approach? Of course he's hard left. His party has just announced a policy to seize 10% of every decent sized public company in the country.