The creeping attempts to castrate the media

The GMC offers advice to anonymous Bloggers, Tweeters and FaceBookers who are medically qualified – shortly after the Leveson Inquiry offered advice to the press.

Today My Black Cat is deeply involved in her Continuing Professional Development into conspiracy theories.

The Witch doctor yawns when she is in this mode because most of what she discovers will not make her a better witch’s cat. And that, of course, is the purpose of her CPD.

However, now and then, while she is immersing herself in the dross, she comes up with something that might turn out to be interesting.

Today she is focussing on The Intertwingled Triplets.

If you have been reading this blog for ages, you will know that the Intertwingled Triplets are Common Purpose, Demos and The Media Standards Trust.

You will also know that “Hacked Off” is a child of the Media Standard’s Trust.

It now seems that she has discovered another Intertwinglement.

It is an outfit called “Full Fact”

Andrew Gilligan had much to say about “Full Fact” in yesterday’s Telegraph.

HOW LEVESON WAS DENIED THE FULL FACTS

“A director of Hacked Off, the campaign against the “lies” of the press, gave false evidence under oath to the Leveson Inquiry, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.

Will Moy, the head of Full Fact, a “non-partisan” group campaigning against “inaccuracy in the media”, told Lord Justice Leveson that his organisation was “constituted as a charity, and in the process of registering as a charity” and as such operated “under a statutory public benefit obligation”.

Impressed, the judge drew extensively on Full Fact’s evidence in his report, describing it as politically “independent”, its work as “extremely important”, and saying: “I am pleased to recognise that Full Fact can claim to be one of the organisations that does seek to ‘guard the guardians’.”

He said its submissions went to the “very core of what I’ve had to consider”.

In fact, in July 2011, seven months before Mr Moy testified, Full Fact had been refused registration as a charity after another judge heard that it lacked the “requisite objectivity” and was not “established for the public benefit”.

The same Andrew Gilligan had much to say about “Hacked Off” in the 30th March 2013 edition of The Telegraph:

THE TRUTH ABOUT HACKED OFF’S MEDIA COUP

“Who are Hacked Off? And how did Brian Cathcart and a small group of even more obscure allies come from nowhere to write perhaps the most important constitutional change yet of the 21st century?

The royal charter which has just ended 300 years of an unregulated press was, as they boast, “drafted with the help of Hacked Off”. The even more controversial “statutory underpinning,” with its coercive damages and fines, was, as they boast, “a measure suggested by Hacked Off’s chairman”.

The bragging is, if anything, underplayed: Lord Justice Leveson all but cut and pasted their suggestions into his report and the Government has adopted them with relatively few changes.”

And in it, My Black Cat discovered another couple of Intertwinglements that she had never heard of: – CCMR – the Co-ordinating Committee for Media Reform. And “Engage.” No doubt she will explore this spawn from the original Intertwingled Triplets in due course.

“CCMR, which has received virtually no publicity in the mainstream media, is closely intertwined with Hacked Off, sharing key personnel.”

Glory be, The Telegraph has almost but not quite used Witch-speak. We prefer the word “Intertwingle” to “intertwined.”

Don’t we, My Black Cat?