How the media works
A few weeks ago, the Telegraph ran its appalling Boris campaign puff piece masquerading as front-page news, in which we learned, amid sentences worded carefully under the watchful eyes of lawyers, that Boris had been the victim of ‘dirty tricks’ and his e-mail system had been hacked. (No further details or evidence of the hacking were provided, nor do they report that the police were called in, despite this being a criminal offence if true, which makes you wonder if it even happened.)
They mixed phrases about the ‘dirty tricks’ and ‘hacking’ with phrases about Ken’s campaign, implying that he had been involved in one or both of these things without ever actually saying as much.
The overriding message of the article was that poor, innocent Boris had been the victim of evil hacking and other skulduggery at the hands of brutal, law-breaking Ken.
Now, let’s see, what happened last night? Harriet Harman’s web site was hacked, and publicly plastered with Back Boris logos. There’s no doubting that this happened – that article has the screenshot to illustrate it – and there’s equally no doubt what the motivation of the hackers was. So how is this reported in that article by The First Post?
"It is unbelievable that her digital security is so weak," says a Westminster source. "I mean if they can hack the deputy PM they can hang anyone, even Gordon Brown."
Brilliant - if Boris claims he’s been hacked, it’s basically Ken’s fault, but if a Boris supporter hacks someone in Ken’s party, it’s her own fault.
If Boris wins this election – and I still firmly believe he need not do so if we sustain our campaigning efforts, Boris-stoppers – it will be as a result of one of the most flagrant abuses of media power (primarily that of the Evening Standard and their mendacious advertising boards) ever involved in getting anyone elected in this country. Thanks, Lynton Crosby.