Our misleading press has only self-interest at heart

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/06/misleading-press-self-interest-at-heart

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Although Polly Toynbee’s piece (Warning: these Tories won’t jump. They must be pushed, 28 April) was up to her usual high standards, the underlying fact about this election was contained in Harold Evans’ excellent tale (How the press was won, The long read, 28 April). Like it or not, and there appears some reluctance in Guardian circles to “go there”, the rightwing press is running rings around us all, and have been for decades, a fact seemingly ignored by the Guardian and other balanced political commentators. It’s not even a close-run thing. Upwards of 80% of our newspaper press is hostile to anything centre ground or left-leaning. This is a viciously protective body of proprietors and editors who are protecting the interests of just 5% of us – the richest 5% that is. Their market is the ordinary Joe and Jane but they are misleading them, manipulating them and distorting the news so that their interests and those of the 5% are served. Not a day goes by without some horror story about the Labour leader, his party or anybody supporting them. Anyone in the centre ground or even a little to the right isn’t spared either, as Nick Clegg will discover (again) that his only use is voting fodder. While the Guardian complains about how Labour has “allowed” a distorted view of its last term in office to take root, it fails to properly analyse and conclude why this is so. It’s not the economy, stupid, it’s the papers.Alan DazelyHorsham, West Sussex

• Reflecting on last week’s BBC’s leaders’ Question Time, Jonathan Freedland writes of the public’s “years of accumulated frustration” created by politicians not being “truly honest” (Our politicians are living a lie but they can regain trust, 2 May). He seems to lay the blame with the politicians but it is not solely politicians who are at fault. I feel desperately sorry for the decent ones who try to tell things as they see them and propose heartfelt policies, even if I don’t share their views. Trying to be honest and straightforward in today’s media environment is akin to trying to wash your underwear in a sewer: a private sewer owned by the Barclay brothers, Desmond, Murdoch and Rothermere.Derek MckiernanEdinburgh

• I am puzzled by the fear of a Labour government expressed by those who write for the “85% rightwing press” – very few of them can have experienced life under a Labour government, since the last one was in the 70s. (Those of a leftwing persuasion, like me, never saw the Blair/Brown years as anything but Thatcher-lite.) The removal of clause four was probably right for its time but it enabled the Tory press to plant in the minds of its readers that union influence on government was “a bad thing”. But, as Polly Toynbee points out (The powerful invisibles at the heart of the Tory party, 5 May), this has been replaced by the overwhelming pressure exerted by the banking and finance sectors. There is no chance that the Tory party will ever repeal the clause that binds it to this group. The great achievement of this sector has been to convince voters that they, the bankers and hedge funders, are the creators of wealth, and not the millions who work for them. If Cameron is able to form a government after this election, a rightwing headline from some time ago is likely to sound again. For millions of ordinary working people – those who have to rely on benefits, or are disabled or depend on the NHS – for them the lights will be turned off. We, not the wealthy, will be all in it together.Harry GalbraithPeel, Isle of Man

• I agree with Richard Crook and Michael Pyke (Letters, 2 May) regarding the Question Time debate and the selection of the audience and topics for questions. We might also hear the same “deliberate” mistakes made in the questioning of opposition leaders on the BBC’s Today and PM programmes where immigration, the demonisation of the SNP, and the blaming of Labour for the results of the banking crisis are regularly brought up at the expense of education, foreign policy, the environment, pensions and crime/legal aid. One of the main offenders is John Humphrys, who persistently interrupts opposition speakers with his views on the deficit but is relatively deferential when interviewing Osborne or Cameron. Eddie Mair isn’t much better. The public is not being well served by a corporation that seems to be in fear of a new Conservative government. Ed Miliband may not be the ideal replacement for Cameron but I fear for the future if this present government, with or without a coalition, is returned to power.Jim HutchisonGateshead