Where's your gf from, Xac?
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Whatever his motives, I still think he made a valid point.
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I've had a bit more time to look at it, and he was attacking those rabid feral tabloid hacks from, er, the Independent. Nothing to do with employing Robert Fisk and Patrick Cockburn, two cogent and informed opponents of his Middle East policy...
His argument goes:
1) The Independent was nasty to me
2) That's why I'm not trusted
3) Therefore we need more regulation of the press
Not sure there's much in that, really. It was actually quite a considered speech on an important subject, but suffers from the standard Blair faults of confusing objectivity and subjectivity (the press who oppose him are 'bad', those who support him don't get a mention) and belief in the desirability of himself controlling events (the media are important, therefor he 'has' to try and control the media).
Anyway, it's not like he's got a lot to complain about - the media willingly allowed itself to be spun into providing him with good headlines on demand and glossing over the bad, that helped him win three elections and stay in power even after Iraq, which should have sunk him. The fact that he's still there now indicates that the media isn't quite the 'feral beast' he thinks.
He boasts of introducing press conferences - have you ever listened to one? He never answers the question and treats anything seriously asked with open contempt. Far from introducing a spirit of openness and connecting directly with voters, I strongly suspect that most viewers who bother to tune in think 'twit'.