The Feral Beast

Gentlemen, please! Unholy row at the 'Telegraph'

Ding dong. A spat has erupted at 'The Daily Telegraph' between George Pitcher, the new religious affairs editor, and leader writer Damian Thompson. Writing a comment on Pitcher's blog, Thompson questions the latter's news judgement. Pitcher's bizarre defence – "I am no more a news journalist than you are" – elicits an indignant riposte from Thompson: "I'm an NCTJ-trained reporter with 110 wpm shorthand ... and was religious affairs correspondent of this newspaper for four years." In theory, Pitcher should be able to spot a story too – he started life as a hack on 'The Observer' before founding the PR firm Luther Pendragon and being ordained as a priest. He has now taken a holiday from his blog.

Will Rosie set the record straight?

Rosie Boycott was recently quoted in 'The Observer' saying she had never been to university. "I've always felt I was pushing the boat out to stay up with people. I didn't go to university. I spent half my time trying to seal over the gaps." That's odd. According to her 'Who's Who' entry, she read pure maths at Kent University. When first included in the august directory, she was reported to have a BSc, but that was duly corrected. Now she claims not to have been at all – how very confusing.

McKay is irreplaceable

Veteran 'Daily Mail' columnist Peter McKay has been on foreign manoeuvres, enjoying a trip to the US conventions. Before setting off, McKay arranged for underlings to write his Ephraim Hardcastle column, but Derry Street bosses were unenthusiastic, I hear. So keen are they on his inimitable wit, he was ordered to resume the column, and the sub-scribes were laid off.

Mutual appreciation

How kind of 'GQ' editor Dylan Jones to plug 'The Spectator' and its editor, Matthew d'Ancona, during a 300-word interview in 'The Guardian' last week. This returned a compliment from d'Ancona, who once described Jones as "the best magazine editor in Britain". D'Ancona writes a well-paid column for Jones's mag, and Jones, in turn, writes for the Speccie. Isn't life grand?

You were warned, Binky

Victory is sweet. In July, the Beast asked Peter "Binky" Beaumont, foreign ed of 'The Observer', to just say sorry, after he falsely accused the charity Survival International of staging a hoax. Now that the Press Complaints Commission is investigating, the Obs has issued a grovelling admission that Beaumont's article was "inaccurate, misleading [and] distorted". Oops.

Don't mention Clarkson

'The Guardian' website reports the appointment of elfin Elaine Bedell as the chair of next year's Edinburgh TV Festival. Summarising Bedell's BBC career, it fails to mention the episode in 2003 in which she was caught by paps in a clinch with Jeremy Clarkson. That's one detail you won't read on Media Guardian, sponsors of that very same Edinburgh TV Festival.