Pros and cons

Andrew Gilligan, who got all sniffy the other day about Dave Hill's qualifications to be a journalist - this coming from someone whose lack of shorthand led to a disaster for the BBC - has been trying to portray an ordinary meeting as an anti-Ken Livingstone meeting. Now there's a shock!

If only all scribblers could meet the high standards of Her Majesty's professional press, so well epitomised by Gilligan. Here's one such genius, handsomely paid for writing for a national newspaper. Having rolled out the idea of "PC loonies" last week, Quentin Letts goes one further this time, launching a broadside - or damp party popper, depending on your view - at 'equality maniacs'. Ho ho! Give that man an enormous amount of money for not saying anything interesting or original, oh you already have.

Fearless investigative journalist Glen Jenvey, meanwhile, is still in a world of trouble, and things don't seem to be getting any better for him.

Author Jonah Goldberg, who had journalist and author Nick Cohen honking in approval like a performing seal when he wrote about how the left were the real fascists and how the KKK were just a misunderstood bunch of good ole boys, is further taken apart by Ben Six here.

Frail Little Heart, a new blog I've only just noticed, writes about those brave professional journalists at the Mail, who breathlessly report Gordon Brown's visit to the US a failure because, and I quote, "...the trip did not even merit a mention a link on seminal political site Drudge or on gossip site Gawker." Wow. I mean, imagine that. Gordy must have wanted to shoot himself after finding that out.

Five Chinese Crackers reminds us that the whiff of racism is getting ever stronger at the professional journalism hub of the Daily Mail, where statistics about immigration have been turned into facts about 'race', for no reason other than, well it doesn't take a genius.

Chris Dillow provides an interesting (partial) defence of Gordon Brown. Obviously it's not in favour with the "Ooh Jocky McBottler did everything wrong and it's all his fault" school of thought, but it's an interesting read. Is he a professional journalist though? Would someone with the alchemistic proper-journalist skills of Gilligan or Letts be able to write something like that? Er, no. Because they'd be told not to.

Eric the Fish has an update on the 'Polish Spitfire' story he covered yonks ago, and which has now been picked up by, yes you've guessed it, professional journalists.

Incidentally, there's something that the professional (and therefore brilliant) journalists haven't found a great deal of time in their busy schedule for. Here's Aaron and Septicisle on Craig Murray's bid to be allowed to address the Joint Committee on Human Rights.