I’ve been getting more and more puzzled about The First Post, an online magazine I came across a few months ago. The design of the site is excellent, the articles are pithy, well written and invariably interesting and many of the contributors are well-known. It has interesting arts coverage, plenty of foreign affairs and great pictures, it looks expensive. So why on earth has nobody heard of it and where is the money coming from?
According to the details on the contact page:
The First Post is owned by First Post NewsGroup Limited and is backed by private investors who are involved in the development of new media opportunities. The Non-Executive Chairman of the company is Mike Turner.
No clue there then. After an age searching on Google I finally came across an article in the Observer from last year. They say that the site is edited by Mark Law, a former comment editor at the Sunday Telegraph, which explains why so many of the First Post writers have also written for the Telegraph. Looking back over some articles with that in mind I did get the occasional whiff of constipation and shoe polish, but it is also a very good read so it’ll be staying in my Bookmarks menu for now. I’ll be keeping an eye on it though, one more sentence containing “flooded” and “immigrants” and they’re out.
After Gordon’s excellent performance in his interview with Andy Marr this morning I’m feeling a bit more optimistic about Labour’s chances in the next election. He’s got a bit of a delicate balancing act to do. On one hand he doesn’t want to look like Blair’s chosen successor because Blair is so unpopular at the moment so he needs to appear as though he has deposed Blair, to some extent, and given him a kick on the way down. On the other hand, nobody like a regicide and in any case he still wants to take credit for all Labour’s positive achievements. I think he’s getting it about right at the moment.
I had never been particularly interested in seeing the cartoons about the holocaust that Iran commissioned as a reaction to the Danish Muslim cartoons brouhaha. However, now that a Danish newspaper has published them and there’s no doubt going to be a fuss all over again I thought I’d have a look. A search with Google took me to a page produced by the Israel News Agency in which they publish the Iran cartoons in tacky juxtaposition with photos from the holocaust. The cartoons seem thoughtful, I didn’t find them offensive. The bullying and dishonest text pasted over the cartoons by the INA, however, is as revolting in its own way as their misappropriation of those tragic photographs.
Recent Comments