The Feral Beast: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

The latest Wikileaks expose, splashed over
The Guardian, has drawn a confusing response.
The Daily Mail, not known for cheering on liberal newspapers or eccentric rape suspects, has universally hailed the leaks, with columnist Peter McKay calling on Wikileaks to "bring it on". But Jonathan Powell , the former chief of staff at No 10, argued that leaks of this kind benefit nobody, and only erode trust between nations. And he was writing in
The Guardian.

Secrets of the rich and famous

GQ has had some fun with its annual list of the 100 most influential men, listing some of their salaries. So, we're told Rupert Murdoch gets £10.9m, and Paul Dacre is on £1.64m. Prince Harry, meanwhile, is listed as getting £29,006 to £32,061, a private soldier's wage. But not everyone's pay packet is revealed: those of Sun editor Dominic Mohan and Colin Myler, editor of the News of the World, remain "undisclosed". And why aren't we told that of Matthew D'Ancona? After all, GQ does employ him.

Fighting pillow talk

That's gratitude for you. Novelist Rowan Somerville celebrated winning Monday's Bad Sex Award by writing a rant against the Literary Review. "There's an atmosphere of bullying peculiar to public schools about the whole thing," he writes in a blog. He is annoyed that his previously well-regarded novel has become infamous because of this "tiny magazine". His blog opens the floor for some intriguing comments: "I've shared a bed with one of the judges of the Literary Review's self-publicising award," says one, "and I can confirm he was an authority on very, very Bad Sex." Which of the tiny panel of judges could they mean?

Friends of Tina Brown said...

The Guardian was forced to print a grovelling apology to Tina Brown over two unflattering articles about her merging Newsweek with The Daily Beast. "There were a series of errors and basic failings of journalistic practice", read the 300-word correction, going on to say the article "breached The Guardian's editorial code for relying heavily on unnamed quotes". So, who was the dastardly hack? Step forward Edward Helmore, the New York based British journalist and former brother-in-law of Bryan Ferry. Fans of Tina Brown have rallied round to condemn him, one unkindly noting that "Edward Helmore should have stuck to writing articles about exclusive private island getaways".

Surely not in Suffolk...

The insatiable appetite for publicity at The Lady continues: a three-page profile of the spat between editor Rachel Johnson and proprietor Julia Budworth appears in Suffolk Life. The monthly glossy is better known for features on watermills and restaurant reviews, but the Budworths, owners of The Lady, are a Suffolk family. Johnson takes the opportunity to defend the charge she is penis-obsessed. Is this the first time penises have appeared in Suffolk Life?