Drinking in the Home
Some mainstream media blogs are usually worth reading. I like the Telegraph’s blog network - the content is thick and fast, but posts are always refreshingly short. A good balance. Until this kind of rubbish finds its way onto their webspace.
I am sure Melissa Kite is a journalist of merit (although I can’t say I have every been overwhelmed by one of her articles), but her comment on David Cameron’s suggestions of alcohol leave a lot to be desired. In an informal atmosphere, Cameron was hypothesising on the role of alcohol in the home - namely that if people drink sensibly in the home, they tend not to drink stupidly outdoors. The continental model. It is a common line of thought, and deserves consideration. To rubbish it as a principle because some deliberately silly hypothetical central government project to promote drinking at home would clearly not work is shoddy journalism. It is no way to make an argument, even if it is via a blog.
The longer the media take the attitude “I wouldn’t write this for the print media, but it’s fine for the blog”, the longer it will take for them to catch up with the wider blogosphere.
For what it’s worth, I think the cultural attitude to alcohol goes much deeper than whether or not people drink small quantities at home from a reasonably young age, but this is a reasonable approach to take with one’s own kids. One things I can agree with Melissa Kite on, despite her chronic approach to argument, is that any state attempt to encourage this sensible behaviour would be impossible and equally undesirable.
Posted in: Cheap Shots, The Internet, Tories, Wood-pulp
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Yeah, I actually read this as well. Politcshome is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
I agree entirely on the quality of its content.