Guardian

After Max Hastings wrote a column for the Daily Mail arguing that civil liberties groups should not get in the way of government security, Alan Rusbridger took the former Daily Telegraph editor to task for his comments. Speaking at a Big Brother Watch event last month, the Guardian editor offered up four reasons why Hastings was wrong to say that he could not ‘imagine what harm can result from MI5 accessing the phone calls, bank accounts, emails of you, me or any other law-abiding citizen’. Rusbridger couldn’t resist taking another pop at Hastings this morning for a column in today’s Mail on the police ‘witch-hunt’ which saw Field Marshal Lord Bramall’s home searched. In

Yesterday the four internal candidates vying to succeed Alan Rusbridger as the Guardian editor-in-chief took part in hustings for the role ahead of a staff ballot, which will see one of them guaranteed a final interview. Mr S’s mole says it could only be described as a ‘good day for external candidates’ as all four editors-in-waiting put on an underwhelming performance at the event. However, one candidate in particular made an impression for the wrong reasons. After they were asked about politics, their own and that of the Guardian‘s, Janine Gibson, Katharine Viner and Emily Bell all made vague mutterings about Guardian values. Wolfgang Blau, however, took the bold step of

Mr S was a guest at last night’s Paul Foot Award, the investigative journalism prize co-hosted by the Guardian and Private Eye. While Alan Rusbridger was unable to attend the Piccadilly bash, his co-sponsor Ian Hislop made sure the departing Guardian editor-in-chief’s presence was felt. ‘Alan’s not here. He is retiring as you know, he’s very retiring, he never mentions the Pulitzer prize,’ he said to roars of laughter from the audience. Next in Hislop’s firing line was Hugh Grant, with the Private Eye editor taking aim at the Love Actually actor for his recent claim in the Guardian that it was Hacked Off who saved the press from police spying. ‘Interestingly Hugh Grant wrote a

The statements are in. The four Guardian employees to make it to the staff ballot in their bid to become the publication’s next editor have released their manifestos, and there are some startling declarations. First Mr S sees that the only male horse in the race, Wolfgang Blau, has taken the bold step of acknowledging that he is not, in fact, a woman. ‘I want to acknowledge the obvious: I am not a woman and I have not grown up in the United Kingdom. I can only promise to you that as the Editor-in-Chief – should you vote for me and should the Scott Trust choose to appoint me – I will do everything

Owen Jones writes in the Guardian today on the subject of trans rights, making a revealing statement in the process. He says: ‘In truth, debates over the latest scientific research are of little interest to me: what matters is that the happiness, security and even lives of a minority are at stake, and all too little has been done about it.’ I’ve no desire to get involved in this particular debate, partly because I don’t know enough and I also don’t want to spend ten years getting harassed and threatened like Julie Bindel. One should never underestimate the threat of violence in shifting public debate, not just in religious matters. I

The names for the Guardian‘s staff ballot are in, and judging by the shortlist the publication could be close to following in the footsteps of the Economist by appointing its first female editor. Of the four candidates on the list, three of the candidates are members of the fairer sex. The four names selected for the ballot are: Emily Bell, former director of digital content for Guardian News and Media Katharine Viner, deputy editor of the Guardian Janine Gibson, editor in chief of the Guardian website Wolfgang Blau, director of digital strategy at the Guardian Rather surprisingly executive editor Jonathan Freedland, who had been a bookies’ favourite, is not on the list. Neither is the publication’s political editor Patrick Wintour.

One of the highlights of my week comes on a Saturday morning, when I make myself a cup of fair-trade coffee and settle down to read the letters page of the Guardian. My wife usually joins me — it’s a sort of date thing, romantic in its own way — and we sit there cackling, our cares and woes forgotten for a while. Sometimes it is the smug little commendations of some earnest article that has uncovered the suffering of an hitherto unreported minority of the population — that stuff is quite funny. But then all newspapers print letters from readers telling them how good they are. Much more fun

Here’s a preview of Rod Liddle’s column from this week’s Spectator, on the financial plight of The Guardian… One of the highlights of my week comes on a Saturday morning, when I make myself a cup of fair-trade coffee and settle down to read the letters page of the Guardian. My wife usually joins me — it’s a sort of date thing, romantic in its own way — and we sit there cackling, our cares and woes forgotten for a while. Sometimes it is the smug little commendations of some earnest article that has uncovered the suffering of an hitherto -unreported minority of the population — that stuff is quite

The FT’s Lucy Kellaway likened the sycophantic Twitter response from Guardian journalists to Alan Rusbridger’s resignation as their editor to the plot of Shakespeare’s King Lear. ‘I couldn’t help thinking of the warring sisters when I read the competing tweets from two of the most hotly tipped successors to Mr Rusbridger. First to declare her love for her departing editor was Janine Gibson. “Alan Rusbridger: Once in a generation editor; best boss ever; good at surprises,” she tweeted. Her rival for the top job, Katherine Viner, followed suit with her paean in 140 characters or fewer: “Alan Rusbridger — for 17 years my inspiring editor: never afraid, always pushing us to

Readers of the Guardian had cause to splutter into their tea this morning after one bright spark seemingly put the wrong photo on an article advising a reader who has difficulty reaching climax during sexual intercourse. Some mistake surely by the @guardian website’s picture editor pic.twitter.com/HLufxoiuoW — Paul Callaghan (@PMCallaghan) January 26, 2015 Although the reader’s name was not listed, it is thought that it was not David Cameron writing in with his problem. Mr S imagines he would go straight to The Spectator‘s own Dear Mary should any issues arise. The photo on the article has now been changed to a more generic snap. It would certainly make an interesting read in their corrections column.

With the Guardian still to name their new editor-in-chief, the Economist has thrown down the gauntlet by appointing their first female editor. Zanny Minton Beddoes will succeed John Micklethwait to be the magazine’s next editor, making her the first female editor in its 172 year history. Formerly the publication’s business affairs editor, Minton Beddoes interviewed for the post last Thursday, beating off competition from Tom Standage, the magazine’s digital editor, and the foreign editor Ed Carr. It’s thought that her wealth of knowledge about the US from her time working in Washington made her the favourite for the coveted role. A popular choice amongst her peers and colleagues, Minton Beddoes is known for her intelligence as well as her sartorial style. ‘She’s extremely

Je suis Charlie indeed. This is the problem with placards — there is rarely enough room to fit in the caveats, the qualifying clauses and the necessary evasions. I suppose you could write them on the back of the placard, one after the other, in biro. Or write in brackets and in much smaller letters, directly below ‘Je suis Charlie’: ‘Jusqu’a un certain point, Lord Copper.’ Then you can pop your biro into your lapel as a moving symbol of freedom of speech. Only a few of the British mainstream national newspapers felt it appropriate to reproduce the front cover of the latest, post-murder, edition of Charlie Hebdo, which shows the Prophet