Why I Will No Longer Be Buying The Daily Telegraph
This may come as quite a surprise to many who see me as a staunch right wing Tory, but for the foreseeable future I will not be buying or reading the Daily Telegraph.
This is not a snap decision I have made, nor is it a moment of madness. It is something I have been considering for quite some time. I have always read the Telegraph from the day I began reading newspapers whilst at school and at that time it was unquestionably the best daily newspaper on the market. It’s news reporting was unrivalled and it’s comments and letters section simply fantastic. However, over the course of the last few years, ever since Charles Moore was axed as editor there has been a marked decrease in the standard of the Telegraph.
The News reporting is now very wishy washy and the coverage of ‘big’ stories has been minimised by the ever increasing use of huge pictures to account for the lack of real textual analysis of the story. Further to this is the feeding and planting of pro government stories that all too often mysteriously make the front page in one way or another. The latest example of this came on Saturday when the lead story in the Telegraph was trying to play down the significance of the Tory Smear emails. When you look into it a bit further, the person who wrote the story is Andrew Porter, the Telegraph’s lobby correspondent who is a regular drinking buddy of no less than Damian McBride. This level of journalism is sickening. The Daily Telegraph is a broadsheet and it is a broadsheet for a reason. It is not meant to be some kind of celebrity magazine or daily photo wall. It is meant to be a high quality newspaper for people with high levels of intellect.
At one time it was referred to the ‘Daily Torygraph’ for it’s ridiculously over the top support for the Conservative Party. Since the arrival of David Cameron as leader, the Telegraph has led a vicious campaign against him and his leadership. At first I agreed with a fair amount of it, however over time I, unlike the Telegraph came to the realisation that anything is better than the current government so it’s best we support Cameron. In fairness to Mr Cameron, he has matured into the role over time and much of the early uncertainty about him has been put aside. That is in most circles, accept for the Telegraph who for one reason or another refuse to support him and seemingly the Conservatives.
The comment section of the Telegraph was often a section where on a particularly busy day I only read that and not all the main news items, but here again there is a marked change. Charles Moore used to have a prime spot on the comment pages and he has now been shifted to the bottom right page away from the eye line. The same fate has fallen upon Philip Johnson and Ian Martin, all of whom are intelligent people who dared to go against the official line. Rachel Sylvester was one of the best commentators the Telegraph had. She left about the same time as the quality of other commentators decreased. We now have ‘new age’ feminists such as Bryonny Phillips writing the notebook column where she waffles away for a while about not a lot. Boris Johnson still writes in an entertaining format, but he is constrained to talk about London Mayor things and nothing else (presumably for fear of being in support of the Conservatives).
Simon Heffer is another ‘feature’ of the Telegraph I have come to despise. He used to write fairly agreeable articles about the Conservatives and Cameron, much of which I agreed with. However, Cameron has moved on and now has much better advisers around him which shows in his leadership style. The thing that annoys me is that most of us have stopped speaking out against Cameron because he has changed. Simon Heffer on the other hand in his infinite wisdom of arogance refuses to admit he was wrong and so continues to write complete and utter rantings against Cameron and the Conservative Party. For this he has lost much of his former credibility and continues to do so.
I have also found myself disagreeing with the editorials. Now, it’s not one person who writes the editorials and they are never by-lined, but it was no surprise when I found out that Simon Heffer had become an associate editor of the paper about the same time as I first started not agreeing with the editorials. Coincidence? I think not.
Then there is the letters. Again, these are still good, but it is clear that an awful amount of filtering and editing of letters goes on. I know of several people who have had letters published which, as a result of the extent to which they have been edited conveys an entirely different message to the one they were trying to broadcast. Surprise surprise I find next to no letters in support of the Conservatives or it’s leadership. Coincidence? I think not.
The price of the Daily Telegraph also has to come into consideration. When I first started reading the paper it was 40p an issue. It is now 90p and what an earth am I getting for that extra 50p? Nothing more, just less. It’s a disgrace and it’s no wonder that the Times has overtaken the Telegraph in circulation figures.
The Court Circular page is being pushed further and further back as are the obituaries. Eventually they might just ‘accidently’ drop off the back page. When that happens the Telegraph may as well stop printing.
Finally and perhaps most worryingly of all is the chat I heard a few days ago. Apparently, according to one of the directors of the Telegraph Media group, the newspaper is undecided as to whether it will be supporting Brown or Cameron at the general election next year. For the Telegraph, that is a complete disgrace and they should hang their heads in complete shame for neglecting the views of their core readership.
The Daily Telegraph must sort itself out. I feel a tinge of sadness writing this post as it’s something I never thought I would have to do, but when a newspaper goes against just about everything you stand for, one cannot continue to buy it and continue regardless. Action is necessary and that is why I will from now on be reading the Times.
