Timely clichés

What the proprietorship of these papers is aiming at is power, and power without responsibility — the prerogative of the harlot through the ages.

Stanley Baldwin, adapting a Kipling quote to denounce newspaper tycoons back in the 1930's.

When - only last week - compliant politicians from both main parties were still desperate to network with the thought leaders of the Murdochcracy, the first part of this well-used phrase fitted what was happening now. I don't think the 'perogative of the harlot through the ages' bit ever fitted. Harlot is a pejorative term, but it brings to mind dependency rather than real power:

For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink.

Hosea 2:5

If we have to keep using this patriarchal insult to describe what's happening between media oligarchs and politicians, surely it's the politicians who deserve the label 'harlots' for the demeaning contortions they went through to please their Newscorp sugar daddy.

Another phrase that's become synonymous with the tabloid minions of Rupert's global vertically integrated media empire is "chequebook journalist." With 200 News of the Screws journalists about to be thrown to the wolves, I suspect that it won't be journalists from Newscorp who will be waving their chequebooks around this weekend, but reporters from every other news organisation, offering a nice lump sum to any disgruntled former NotW employee with some inside dirt on the filthier corners of Murdoch's Muck House. The Newscorp HR department must be a buzzing hive of activity at the moment as they finalise hush money and gagging clauses for the people they're letting go and try to find internal posts for any toxic hacks who know where the bodies are buried.

Mind you, with the British banks no longer honouring cheque guarantee cards, in their rush to phase out cheques in favour of electronic payments, calling people "chequebook journalists" will soon start to sound as outdated as describing them as "harlots."  Once cheques are history, I don't know what we're going to call them.* BACS hacks?

*without actually swearing