Letter: Exposing the tabloid myths

Exposing the tabloid myths

Sir: Reading Richard Williams' article `Hoddle ducks the patriot missiles' (Friday, 20 November) I was reminded of the column Suzanne Moore wrote several weeks ago entitled `The joy of being on the left'. For Williams's article could have been headed `The joy of being a broadsheet reader'.

Taut, rational with a cerebral spine running through it, here was an article which, quite apart from its subject matter, could never have been published in a tabloid. Its clinical use of detail, contrasting so sharply with what the tabloids had done with remarks Glenn Hoddle made on Monday, revealed the misleading nature of much of what they are writing.

It is fashionable to praise The Sun, to argue that the tabloids understand popular culture while `the unpopulars' miss the point. This is wrong because, while `King of the Hill' and `South Park' may be culture, Anthea Turner is not.

And as The Times becomes ever more efficient at self-censorship - where was their story of the 1,000 angry Manchester United shareholders? - the real broadsheets become ever more valuable to society.

TOM DE CASTELLA

Sheffield