The limitless powers of the banksters

There's been little point posting about the toing and froing over the treacherous sell-out of Ireland. The minutiae are so much less important than the Dail vote on the budget on December 7th.

Either the Dail votes that crap down, and we get an election and the chance to renegotiate this gun-at-the-head bailout of billionaires, or we become a serf-nation of slaves in debenture perpetually to big banksters.

Anyhow, I've been more concerned about the true extent of big banking's powers. Ok, we now know that they hold more sway with the IMF than sovereign nations. But we knew that decades ago. What's new is that they hold more sway with the EU than with its constituent nations. That's disturbing to say the least.

But what's really concerning is the Interpol warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange of Wikileaks on charges of sexual assault. The details of the charges aren't the issue - Assange is accused of raping a woman in Sweden during sex which began as consensual - so much as the timing.

Wikileaks has been involved in some major leaks of secret documents in recent times. Lets review the biggest ones:

1. The files on US torture of Iraqis. Response? Virtually nothing.
2. Details of the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. Response? Some PR posturing by the US.
3. The recent release (after a lengthy warning it was coming) of US diplomatic documents. Response? Angry statements by Hilary Clinton.

And now? Wikileaks threatens to release secret documents from a major US bank. Response? Interpol arrest warrant.

The more paranoid out there suspect all sorts of things, from Assange being a CIA plant to the victim of a deliberate honey trap. My response to the conspiracy theorists is to file away their crazier ideas for future thriller plots.

But there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that the timing of this Interpol intervention stinks. Assange has been interviewed by Swedish authorities who repeatedly (ironically?) leaked the details to Swedish tabloids. He spoke to them recently from Britain by Skype, offering to conduct further interviews in a Swedish embassy. They refused.

Now, almost as soon as Wikileaks threaten to blow the lid on a major US bank, there's an Interpol warrant issued for his arrest.

It appears that the powers of the banksters truly are limitless and that they have sway over not only national but supranational agencies like the EU, IMF and Interpol.

Things are looking bleak, not only for Julian Assange, or for the Irish people, but for everyone on Earth who is not a major bankster right now.

In defence of tabloids

I like tabloids. There, I said it. I'm not a sexist neanderthal. I have an extensive education. I work in a decent job. I can understand abstract concepts. I also read a lot of broadsheets, magazines, websites and blogs.

But I like tabloids, and I think ironically that they get a very bad press.

This week, a court gave a convicted criminal and admitted fraudster nearly a million euro in a libel judgement against a tabloid, because they couldn't prove he was a drug dealer as they had said.

Now, the chap in question had already been forced to make a payment to the Criminal Assets Bureau, who have stated that they believed he had made substantial amounts of money in Britain through drugs trafficking.

But nevertheless, he sued for libel, and won 900,000 euro for the loss of his 'good name.' That's five times what you'd get if you lost your arm in an accident at work! For the loss of a criminal's good name.

After the verdict, Mr McDonagh went on air to blame tabloids for all the ills in Ireland today. I thought this was a bit rich. But then again, with a million in his pocket of the Sunday World's money, everything about Mr McDonagh is now a bit rich.

The paper is appealing and I hope they win. I found that judgement to be ridiculous. But I noted the glee among a certain class of people. They were delighted that a tabloid had been slapped down. Never mind that meant siding with a criminal. They were just chuffed to see a tabloid punished.

I read most if not all Irish papers daily. I find a lot of outdated assumptions prevail in relation to a lot of newspapers. Primarily those assumptions are held by people at the top rather than the bottom of the educational/social spectrum.

There is the assumption that the Irish Times is the best news source in the country, when it wouldn't be top ten.

Then there is the assumption about tabloids: 'I don't read tabloids myself, but I believe they're all soaps, celebs, sport and tits.' But they seem to forget that The Guardian is a tabloid (Berliner format? That's posh for tabloid.)

The Irish Indo is a tabloid. So is the London Times. So is the Daily Sport. And they're all different beasts. I agree that there is a similarity in the red-top market, where the Sun, Mirror, Star and Evening Herald all feature quite a similar news style, agenda and content. But they have different hacks, different sources and compete strongly for the news.

What is certain is that tabloids break news. They break the bulk of news stories in Ireland, I would argue. RTE, with their vast newsroom and highly paid dozens of correspondents, does manage to do breaking news extremely well. But I would argue the red tops break stories better than anyone else, in general. At least on weekdays.

I understand the criticism that tabloids dumb down stories. A pal of mine who ran a newsagent once described the red-tops as 'the Disney version of the news', a phrase I found memorable.

But I believe their value in breaking news more than outweighs po-faced moaning about sensationalism (of which the broadsheets are equally guilty) or dumbing down (which is just a snooty way of complaining that the tabloids communicate to people with less formal education than some other media outlets.)

I think it is especially important in this regard to tread extremely carefully when you encounter a criminal like McDonagh or yet another politician lambasting tabloids.

The fact is that they do not like being held to account. This goes double when their actions conflict with their public positions, or when they're caught with their snouts in the trough. This is why dictators like Mugabe have effectively banned the media.

Our politicians are no different, except in terms of degree. They too do not enjoy the scrutiny of the fourth estate. And while they can rely on the cosy consensus of the Dail bar contingent not to rock the boat, they find it somewhat more problematic to silence newspapers which are not reliant on the doling of leaks from ministers for exclusives.

In no shape or form would I ever defend everything the Irish tabloids do. The Brian Murphy coverage sticks out as appalling in my mind.

But I find it strange how the very people who lambast tabloids for sensationalism and so on always seem to forget that most of the most outrageous media stunts in recent times were committed by broadsheets which they revere.

I've seen people blaming tabloid culture on making up lies about Liam Lawlor being with a hooker at the time of his death in Moscow. No doubt many people think that is the case, but it isn't.

It was the respected broadsheeets the Sunday Independent and the Observer who peddled that lie, with the latter even inventing brothels in Prague that the late Mr Lawlor was alleged to have attended regularly.

Tabloids do cause some harm on occasion. I wouldn't say much. But so do all newspapers. In general though, I think we as a nation benefit from having such a dense and diverse media environment, and I include the national broadcaster, Newstalk, the regional papers and radio stations and the niche media like La and the news magazines in that too.

Ireland has the healthiest, by which I mean densest, media topography of anywhere. Rather than sneering about papers one doesn't read dahling, perhaps people should be happy that there is a choice available, rather than in most middle-size American cities (Dublin size and greater) which are often served by a single, poor quality local rag.

No one's forcing you to read the tabloids. If you're happy with the turgid press release rewrites that pass for news in the Irish Times, then bully for you.

But on the basis that it's preferable to speak on matters from the position of experience rather than ignorance, I would encourage everyone to take a day out sometime and read ALL the papers. You might find yourself surprised at the quality of news coverage throughout the Irish media.

Including the tabloids.