In the days of Richard Ingrams' editorship no-one was safe from satire - not even Albert Schweitzer, at one time considered an uncanonised saint. Private Eye was a frequent flier to the libel courts; but the threat of criminal libel from Sir James Goldsmith decided Ingrams that the game was no fun any more.
Now, as regards Ukraine, it seems to have taken sides. It's not as bad as the Daily Mail, for me now unreadable (the articles by e.g. Ian Birrell deserve to be in some kind of propaganda museum); even The Spectator last week featured a cartoon cover depicting Putin's scowling Slavic head as made up of a mountain of skulls (some Russophilic commentators perceive Western attitudes as racist and have taken to referring to themselves as 'steppen*gg*rs.)
Coming back to the once-fearless Eye: perhaps Ian Hislop has been a 'safe pair of hands' for too long; perhaps he has become too comfortable, too occupied with other projects. Here are the relevant cartoons from issue 1570 (the one before this week's); judge for yourself who is getting the easy ride here.
General
Warmonger, butcher, N*zi and devil
2 comments:
I wonder what The Clintistorit of Wintistering might have said about this!
Maybe Sir Herbert Gussett and his lady wife, whose name for the moment escaped him could have given them a few tips!
I gave up on Private Eye a few years ago. Hislop seemed to absorb BBC culture over the years and this filtered through into the Eye. Whatever the reason, it became partisan and lost its edge.
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