Sunday, April 19, 2009

Smeargate Part the 2nd: In Which Guido's Marbles Are Lost?


VERY DISAPPOINTING. We'll have to wait and see about this story (Guido's reprint of what he calls the NOTW "Press Release) develops. Linking to what Guido calls "the full story". In fact this consists of the exact same words as Guido's spoiler.

This is just the 8th Day of the "Guidoisation" of the mainstream media and particularly the lobby. Guido is showing them how to regain the moral high ground! How to stay honest! How to do their jobs in an honourable way! But if they're publishing stuff this thin so soon Guido's moral crusade is not going to last until May.

Where is the slightest evidence linking Ray Collins and Kevin Maguire, who attended a November start of December 2008 meeting with the Red Rag conspirators (didn't we know about that already? from Collins?) with the sleazy, smeary, almost Guido-like content McBride proposed for but was never published by that infamous site on 13 January 2009?

Here's my comment submitted to the NOTW at around 00:18 am. Wonder if they'll print it?

The whole thing looks a bit like a "difficult second album" pushed out through a contractual liability, without much enthusiasm. As if someone has laid out a big cheque and wants to get their pound of flesh.

The site was registered before this meeting? But this meeting set the site up? You say "The Red Rag" meeting? Why not "Labour blogging meeting"? Or "Labour List" meeting?
Labour List is a site that WAS set up and DID launch and IS publishing. Grudging acceptance now of improvement and value. But no sleaze, no smear, no gossip even. In fact it's tedious!
But bankrolled by Whelan and Dodgshon's Unite. And doing the things this meeting was about.
If "Red Rag" were a fringe to "Labour List" formality - there's surely no problem with that is there? ... so long as disgraceful smears apparently exchanged on 13 January had any part?
Gossipy websites are OK. Only if content gets wild, untrue, disgusting is there a problem. Remember - Red Rag never published a word.
Mainstream media, the blogger Guido Fawkes, and those Tories named, have published the material.
This story owes more to Guido's smeary style than to any NCTJ training. No evidence that either Ray Collins or Kevin Maguire discussed or encouraged smear material, proposed two months later. At the moment this story is a smear on those two and Labour. Not a real story.
Guidoisation of the press, making you "honest", will not be sustainable if you publish something as thin as this as early as the 8th day of the "clean up".

UPDATE 01:17: Iain Dale thinks this story is "stonking". Oh dear. Real crisis of analysis. This story is thin as hell. In fact it is a smear.

5 comments:

Obnoxio The Clown said...

As if someone has laid out a big cheque and wants to get their pound of flesh.Not implying something there, are you? If you are, come out and say it with proof, or else admit that you have "smearitis" just as badly as Guido or Damian ...

Chris Paul said...

I thought you were busy jerking yourself to sleep you horrid jester? You promised you were an hour ago. Still not managed it?

Clearly - as we know Guido to be as honest as the day is long - I'm not suggesting a payment to Guido. In fact Guido is not even a real person.

But we do know that until someone told Staines he could get sued unless he made this "church work" that £20,000 was the price requested. But, he tells us, he was chicken because he thought he could get sued over some of this.

Why ever did he think that?

And we also know that other considerations than a cheque direct to the principle stringer or kiss and teller are not unusual in this game, that Guido is off shore, and that Guido knows his way round a financial instrument and a weasel word.

But I'm not saying that Guido or Guido's connections or the little Sisters of the Poor or anyone has received any consideration over this. I'm just saying that it looks incredibly weak. As journalism it's makes a good Limerick.

It reminds me of a contractually released difficult second album with nothing to say. It's a smear. That's all. So much for the moral high ground.

Jimmy said...

Chris,

It's worse than that. he was plainly attempting to create the impression that he was not looking for money until the torygraph grassed on him. this appears to be the genesis of their current spat. If you look at his petulant non-rebuttal to his torygraph profile, he can dish it out, but he can't take it.

benchilltory said...

i like obnoxio the clown.
A class above the usual commentators that you get on here.
It will be good to have a Libertaian perspective

Chris Paul said...

We all like Obnoxio BHT ... he's such a card.