adrian monck

Month: November 2006

  • Table talk

    1 Parliament Street, with its white marble walls like slabs of Kendal Mint Cake, is soullessness itself. It is Thursday night and the host has to leave early to make it back to his constituency. He is exhausted but charming, delivering an off the cuff speech that is as smooth and used as an old…

  • "Daring to be different" – postscript

    Ofcom found Meridian Tonight guilty of breaching of the Broadcast Code. So what price should be exacted for donating eight minutes of primetime promotion to Virgin and Dubai? What would that much advertorial cost you? What sanction could possibly prevent such craven reporting? Don’t worry on their behalf. Their punishment is … being found in…

  • Lord Hutton – Apologia pro Vita Sua

    Lord Hutton has published an article on media reaction to his report. Let’s ignore the fact that his footnotes on page one spell Freedland as Friedland. Typo! He’s obviously one unhappy bunny. Which is a shame. I teach the Hutton Inquiry to postgraduate students. And I happen to think – in hindsight – that he…

  • Madonna vs. Newsnight

    Be careful what you wish for…Newsnight (a UK version of Nightline) secured an interview with Madonna which aired last night. You can see the tag-line: when a hard-nosed interviewer meets a woman used to being crucified on video – the sparks fly! Madonna and anchor Kirsty Wark discussed the singer’s adoption of a young Malawian…