Matt Buck's Hack Cartoons

The government certainly seems to be putting up plenty of chaff to try and keep attention away from the detention without trial debate on Wednesday. Briefly, listing two eye-catching initiatives, you might notice the threats to close schools in poor parts of the country and the imminent departure of our troops from southern Iraq again. Clearly, these are happy days in the news management department.

Matt Buck’s animated drawings

Google recently signed business deals with four major providers of information to newspapers all around the globe.

This has, potentially, very major implications for all existing print media. The news gathered at source does not have to go through the existing media structures to get to market (the readers). Why would anyone bother to read a paper when you can get the unfiltered content direct from your contact with a search engine?

Hat-tip to Matthew Ingram who writes about it here

A sign of the times.

Wonder of wonders, The Sun has a magnificent scoop today with the voice recording from two US planes involved in a friendly fire incident against British troops in Iraq.

Story

Also, it has emerged that Jonathan Powell, the PM's most senior aide, is about to be interviewed again by the Met in respect of the loans for peerages allegations.

Another story

Now, who might have an interest in making sure there was a good, big, dramatic story in the public eye today? Coroners don't talk to the media, the US certainly are not happy about the leak - who does that leave?