Time to take out the tabloid trash

While shocked by the suffering caused to many people by the antics of the News of The World and its phone hacking scandals - The Haze wonders if there might be a good outcome to this after all.


Let's say plainly what most of us already know about tabloid newspapers in this country - they are in the main worthless rags.


In this instance the News of the World has over stepped the mark and been caught out - but the gutter press have been walking a very fine line between legal muck raking and outright illegality for decades - by doing so, they adroitly avoid any consequences and pump out an endless stream of negative coverage that plays on the worst aspects of human nature.


The trash tabloids are not just the celeb baiting comics like the News of The World - papers with huge circulations like The Daily Mail and the Daily Express are also awful papers. They are very clever at writing basically racist articles without over-stepping the line and being actually unlawful.


If it isn't racism its hatred - with a clutch of regular targets like benefits claimants, immigrants, single mothers, working class people, Muslims and trades unions.


If it isn't hatred then its fear - with lurid headlines stoking up people's anxieties about crime, immigration, young people and the economy.


The tabloid press in this country (we exclude the new 'i' of course) are a powerful obstacle to progress in any direction - playing off the most base fears and prejudices - increasing ignorance, class / racial hatreds and fear.


So perhaps the troubles of the embattled News of the World might be a good thing in the end.


Lets hope for the best!


Perhaps this will be a wake up call to the nation and the astonishing support that the gutter tabloids receive from both advertisers and readers will start to diminish.


Perhaps we will finally get a review of the failed and toothless Press Complaints Commission which has shown time and again that is not fit for its task.


Perhaps the decision to allow Rupert Murdoch's News International to take over BSkyB can be stopped (not too late to protest - join the avaaz campaign here)


Perhaps at the very least the News of the World can be dumped in the garbage where it belongs.


Join the campaign running at Liberal Conspiracy to target the companies who advertise in the News of the World.


Here is a headline we would love to see here at Sodium Haze:

'Muck raking tabloids dumped en-masse by the nation'

wouldn't that be great!

[this is now a mirror blog - the real deal is over at www.sodiumhaze.org - why not go and look at the shiny new haze!]

Class hatred

Polly Toynbee writes with passion and intelligence this morning in the Guardian about class hatred.

She rails against the use of the word 'chav' and accuses the right wing upper classes of the UK of draining power, money and respect from the bottom to the top of UK society.

When considering the dim distant notion of a functional world administration (the kind which could deliver the urgently needed changes to avert catastrophic climate change) or some notion of world community or human unity - it is tempting to look at national divides, religious divides and ethnic divides and pay too little attention to class divides.



Here in the UK - class is a huge huge issue - always has been. Polly in her article argues rightly that working class people have been demonised by the word 'chav' by upper class people who despise them.

What dissapoints me about Polly's article, in fact the whole narrative of her articles is that she operates from inside a class war mentality that offers support and fire for her 'side' - but no way out as I see it.

Why do rich people with all the advantages and security one could wish for still fear and despise people who are in reality no threat to them.

What are the national group dynamics that have created and sustained this class hatred for centuries - and how do we change them? Do people even want them changed? Polly admirably stands up for sections of society that she regards as trampled and powerless - but is this actually true - Polly risks turning whole sections of society into hapless victims, who want an end to class labels and boxes but can't somehow get off their knees and have a revolution.

But DO people REALLY want to be stripped of their class identities and sense of belonging? I doubt it in many cases. Sure everyone would like more money and its absolutely true that we live in a society which is inequitous to the point of being evil - but do people really want an end to the divisive class struggle in the UK?

Do upper class, middle class and working class all have their own value systems, worldviews and ways of identifying themselves. Is this a vmeme issue a la Spiral Dynamics?

I would LOVE an end to the class structure in the UK - an end to the royals - the toffs - the tories...

...but I think its folly and perhaps even arrogant to assume that everyone else shares those wishes - indeed it is far more likely that they don't - identity and a set of cultural rules and clothes are things that some of us can cast off  - but are a life threatening loss for others.

Sadly I suspect Polly is guilty of projecting her wishes onto a section of society all too easily portrayed as victims - the venal imposition of poverty lands true with me - the idea that people rail against the cultural compact of being working class or even a 'chav ' - doesn't.