Thought For The Day: Peter Wilby

Child abuse is a reality and, in the past, the full extent of it was often swept under the carpet. The guilty still at liberty far outnumber the innocent behind bars. In nearly all the instances I list above, children were abused, sometimes in large numbers. They suffered terrible trauma, and the effects were often lifelong. To point out that journalists – along with politicians and professionals such as social workers – strayed into wild fantasies is not to defend or trivialise abuse. Nor does questioning some convictions denote "support" for paedophilia, any more than questioning the Birmingham Six convictions denoted "support" for IRA bombers.

The great media analyst Peter Wilby, writing for The Guardian.

You may wish to compare and contrast it with this Independent piece by Owen Jones - again, someone who really should know better, much better - which reads like an exercise in hysterical, sanctimonious, point-missing and point-scoring.
And it is as silly as it is grotesque to suggest that merely pointing out that Steve Messham has withdrawn his allegation against Lord McAlpine is somehow to condone or enable the sexual abuse of children.
Let us pray to the great god Pan that Owen doesn't let his new-found fame, fame, fatal fame turn him into another Johann Hari.
We need him. 

PS Mail Online has managed to turn this sorry tale into 12 BBC-bashing articles today. Ironically, without the "news" about Newsnight and BBC News this seems to be quite a slow news day.

Update: 'Is Tom Watson in danger of fuelling a paedophile panic?' Nelson Jones, New Statesman.
Answer: Yes.

Update 2: "Days after allegations of sexual misconduct were made against Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash, they have been withdrawn - the claimant recanting his story..." The Independent.
No comment from Owen on this, yet. 

Olympics: My Lovely Horse

...But, turning to the Daily Mail's coverage of the dressage team, is something of much more concern. In a sidebar to its report are the profiles of the two female members of the team - Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte Dujardin.
Their male teammate, Carl Hester, is rightly described as a four-time Olympian. It goes on to tell how he encouraged Charlotte, who lives in a cottage on his equestrian estate, to ride, adding:

"Hester, who is gay, allowed her to ride his young horse, Valegro, as a novice, planning to ride the animal himself when he reached international standard."

What? Who is gay? What was the point of that? How did it creep in, and why?

Roy Greenslade writing on his Guardian Media blog. 
Seeing as Carl Hester is one of only two out gay men in the Olympics it is of note, though of no relevance to this story.
But I'm sure the Mail had their reasons.

Grazia: For The Man In Your Woman

"Monkey's second favourite celebrity fashion weekly with an iota of serious news, Grazia, is to introduce a blokeish insert with the strapline "for the man in your life". Among those who may be surprised by the Bauer Media mag's implicit assumption that its readers are neither single nor lesbian is Melanie Rickey, its fashion editor-at-large – she is the civil partner of Mary Portas, BBC2's Queen of Shops."

from The Guardian's Media Monkey's Diary