Letter: Striking a blow at the press

Sir: Polly Toynbee's piece on the Daily Mail seemed to express what many feel about the damaging power, and confused and hypocritical morality of the press (and I am not sure we should confine this judgement to the tabloids.)

With a certain thrill we read of her careful manipulation of the journalists' craft and her use of "contacts" to combat an intrusive and mischievous piece of story fabrication. But this misses the point: Polly Toynbee may have been able to get her retaliation in first and strike some sort of blow for those who suffer press harassment, but how do those less privileged in access to the front page of a national newspaper "throw it back"?

G C WOODS

Shrewsbury