More Power to King Fry’s Elbow

Earlier this week I wrote about how I been intrigued by Trafigura’s ability to gag the Guardian and their failure to gag online comment. I have come across another interesting example of how the Twitterati are influencing the media.

Last week an article appeared in the Daily Mail, written by journalist Jan Moir, which discussed the recent death of Stephen Gately at the age of just 33. The article was originally titled “Why there was nothing ‘natural’ about Stephen Gately’s death”. Although the article has now been amended in several ways, the original can be read as a (Google Doc.)

Within a few hours of the article being published, a furore had grown around Twitter and blog sites buzzing with anger at the perception that Moir was implying the ex-Boyzone singer’s death was intrinsically linked to his lifestyle as a homosexual.

‘King’ Fry tweeted "I gather a … nobody …has written something loathsome and inhumane," whilst Charlie Brooker blogged a scathing riposte to the article on the Guardian website .

The online backlash was so immediate and effective that by the time I became aware of the offending piece last Friday afternoon, merely hours after it had first appeared, the Press Complaints Commission had already received 1,000 complaints. At the time of writing that number has risen to a record 25,000, whilst the Daily Mail has been forced to remove adverts from around the article, after the advertisers too were bombarded with complaints.

Both this example and my earlier example about Trafigura demonstrate how people like Stephen Fry and other members of the ‘Twitterati’ have realised the potential of social media as a tool for socio-political comment.

The enforced climb-down by Carter Ruck and their ultimate failure to gag the Guardian struck a blow for the supporters of free speech and freedom of press. The reaction to the now infamous Jan Moir article however has sought to make the press more accountable and raised questions about press regulation – it could even be suggested that Moir’s freedom of speech has been curtailed! Certainly, last week was a compelling week on Twitter.

Kyle Seely, Planner Buyer