The following is the text of an e-mail I have just sent to the Editor of Independent (?) Television News following the 5.30 bulletin on ITV1 today, where over half the programme was taken up with "news" that former-PM John Major was screwing ex-minister Edwina Currie back in the mid-80s :

"Dear Sir/Madam,

I have just watched the ITN news bulletin broadcast on ITV1 at 5.30 today with increasing annoyance and concern.

As I am sure you are aware, the possibility of a war on or in Iraq is the primary news story at the moment. On Saturday, in addition to various attempts by the US government to persuade other powerful states to support its position, a small matter of at least a quarter of a million people marched from the Embankment to Hyde Park in London to protest possible moves towards war.

In the light of this, I would be very interested in your comments as to why the editor of the 5.30 bulletin should have decided that the first eight minutes of a fifteen-minute bulletin (which also had to fit in the afternoon's sports results) should be given over to news (if one may stretch the term a little) that one former government minister had it off with another one nearly a decade and a half ago.

Even if Mr. Major and Mrs. Currie were at all relevant political figures today, giving lead-item coverage on such a scale to a bit of "kiss and tell" muck-raking on a main news programme when there are more significant and far-reaching stories right on your own doorstep is a matter for astonishment. Indeed, the whole issue of Iraq was scooted through in a matter of two minutes - if that.

When a comparison is made with the very substantial and extensive coverage given by ITN and other broadcasters to the Countryside Alliance march in London last Sunday, I do not think that it is paranoia which compels me to sense a hidden agenda in the relegation of Saturday's demonstrations in your programming. That a genuinely significant news story (that is, the whole matter of Iraq, not just the events in London) may be considered a very poor second to out-of-date tittle-tattle about two figures from the distant past of politics (where a week is a long time), speaks either of extremely poor editorial judgement or a negation of any commitment to reporting the real issues. Furthermore, it will only fuel a strong suspicion, even amongst those of us not given to conspiracy theories, that pressure is being applied from 'somewhere' for expressions of opposition to the war to be downplayed, and that you and your colleagues are proving too weak to resist it.

I would have liked to think that ITN would have been courageous enough to resist any such pressure, and that journalistic and editorial integrity and quality would have been maintained to the limit, but the news bulletin I have just sat through raises worrying questions in my mind as to whether ITN can any longer be trusted to do this.

I await your comments with interest.

Yours faithfully"

(Breaking News : I've just had a reply telling me to re-send my e-mail to their "ITV Viewer Liaison" mailbox. Someone doesn't want to listen....)

Not that we had nearly the numbers, but there was also a virtual blackout of news of the 2,000 to 3,000 protesters present for Bush's visit to Denver on Friday, Sept. 27. Print reports said little about the protests and the pictures accompanying articles focused on minor, isolated shouting matches rather than panning the crowd to show how diverse the opposition to the war in Iraq is.

Planners of the Friday march had expected a couple of hundred participants.

I heard nothing of the UK action until looking for news of our own local action. Something is badly broken in the press.

The night before the protest, the local news reported that there would be a protest the following day, and and then showed clips of the pepper spraying of Portland protesters. Even I got the subtext of that one.

I was appalled that www.msnbc.com and www.cnn.com do not make a whisper of the most important demonstrations to take place since talks of attacking Iraq began.

Thank you for covering this story. My hope is that US citizens will be inspired by the march on September 28th and follow suit. We (America)must face our worse enemies, Apathy and Ego, before pointing the finger at other societies. Many of us in America parallel the thoughts that this war would be an obvious monstrosity but havn’t the guts yet to stand up in front of our neighbors. We would rather turn on the box of propaganda, commonly known as TV, tuning out the truth.

It is hideous that the Bush Administration believes they are speaking for us while hushing our media and replacing truth with Football scores and Hollywood romance.

I would rather sew my mouth shut than support such a farce as this potential attack on Iraq. Our government has made Saddam Hussein the boogieman. Come on America, freedom is not some mediocre American Flag you stick to the bumper of your car.

Let us wipe the blood from our hands and the oil from our feet.

Sincerely,
Kelly