Is publishing topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge just an act of greed by trash French and Irish publications?
At first glance, one might be forgiven for thinking this story is nothing more than opportunistic exploitation of celebrity by French, and now Irish, junk publications.
Yet as most mainstream media coverage shows, the British media is exploiting the incident in a cynical act of mass suicide. Even the Mail and The Sun, which have highlighted the dangers of the upcoming Leveson Inquiry report, appear to have fallen into this trap.
The Duchess of Cambridge is being used by those who advocate the idea that the media is incapable of setting its own standards. In some cases this may be true. But Leveson stands to lose something valuable.
The Leveson Inquiry intends to establish a new media regulator, the Media Standards Trust, and will use its common cause to stifle the last vestiges of press freedom.
The real story here is not the topless photographs. The real story is the media's reaction to the topless photographs. This story is a kind of false flag operation, designed to make people angry at the media so that we can all accept the Leveson report.
But as Ian Hislop said in his testimony to the inquiry, there are already laws in place to curb the immoral behaviour of unscrupulous journalists. Journalists who break the laws of the country should be jailed, not punished. And for the rest, legal but reprehensible invasions of privacy like this one, we always have the power in our pockets.
The millions of pounds spent on Leveson were unnecessary. Leveson was unnecessary. And his rigorous report will be unnecessary.
The last vestiges of freedom that our media has will soon be gone unless we recognize what is happening here and act accordingly.
