The Last Ditch by Tom Paine

THE LAST DITCH

Murdoch’s despicable rag serves the state again

Published by Tom

on

Ruling on NightJack author Richard Horton kills blogger anonymity – Times Online.

Though regularly and willingly used as puppets of ministers who lie and smear off the record through protected anonymous sources "close to" them (such as Damian McBride) The Times has fought blogger Nightjack in the High Court to win the right to publish his name and picture. This, despite his understandable wish to remain anonymous. His force has now disciplined him and his Orwell Prize-winning blog has been taken down. A great loss.

Nightjack was a superb blogger. He wrote well and with passion about his subject. He cared about his job and about the public he serves. The press is there to question and hold authority to account, not to deliver the state its victims. Though I don't question the judge's legal analysis, I do believe that Nightjack is far more of a credit to the police force than The Times is to the press. It might have the legal right to "out" him, but it should have had the decency not to.

2 responses to “Murdoch’s despicable rag serves the state again”

  1. Diogenes Avatar
    Diogenes

    In recent years the vile Ian Blair and others, with their identity politics agenda, have politicised the police to an unprecedented extent.
    Yet in the background fearlessly speaking truth unto power have been the anonymous police bloggers. Reassuring anyone willing to listen that the rank and file police men and women are still on the side of the public, not the criminals or politicians (if these vocations can be considered exclusive). Copperfield, Gadget, Bloggs, Nightjack et al have done more to bring the force back into repute than any number of initiatives, slogans or pledges senior management could think of.
    That the Times should attack these brave people at a time when similarly brave citizen journalists are trying to free Iran from tyrannical rule is staggering, I wonder if ‘the Thunderer’ has any moderate sources within the Iranian police that need an outing.

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  2. Moggsy Avatar
    Moggsy

    I don’t buy it so I can’t even cancel my subscription to the Times in protest. How disappointing.
    Pretty sleazy of them tho…

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Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.

Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.

He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that

“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”

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