Do newspaper editors, writers and owners ever consider that they might harm people? Day in, day out, the “tabloids” in some of their coverage pump out pulp stirring celebrity soup, ripping into politicians without weighing evidence, putting prejudice in people’s hearts, manipulating political issues and elections, consumerizing sex, ignoring life issues, encouraging fight talk, rubbishing other countries and stirring hate. It has been going on at least since the Daily Mail pushed the fake “Zinoviev letter” just before a General Election suggesting the Labour Party in 1924 was in cahoots with Soviet Communism for a revolution. It was a lie which slewed the election and later world politics.

For a number of elections, I looked at several weeks of the Sun’s coverage. It was tired, biased journalism, trying to persuade millions of working class people that they were better off with Tory capitalists. By and large it succeeded. But the quality was appalling. Close to the bottom of the pit was the double page spread where the “Sun” got in a clairvoyant to see how figures from the past would vote. All the heroes – Churchill etc. voted Tory, and Marx, Stalin and John Lennon voted Labour. Yes, you see it immediately. The clairvoyant was some young hack who has not heard of Lenin when he was given the list and was later probably bawled out by the Editor for giving Labour votes. When you have seen that in a newspaper you never recover. This painting says this journalism.

The Sun rubbished politicians who might dent capitalism. Kinnock got the treatment. Gordon Brown was “The Prime Monster” and was bugged when he was tired saying an unkind thing about a voter which threw his election campaign. Clegg was Cleggalomaniac. It was, and maybe is, rubbishing journalism which taints the people who do read it. And the owner, Murdoch, and the Editors know better; they are manipulating. I did another painting reflecting this, but it is in too poor taste to show. This damage in our national life needs naming.