Thursday, October 01, 2009

Voters: Reds Blew It for Us Too

THE SUN: LABOUR voters let down by the Government told The Sun yesterday why they were turning their back on the Party.

Our website and text service was swamped by readers backing our decision to dump PM Gordon Brown and support David Cameron's Conservatives instead.

Those backing our stand include victims of crime, families of Our Boys serving on the front-line in Afghanistan and those left devastated after losing loved ones to NHS hospital superbugs like MRSA.

But mostly it was just the ordinary man and woman in the street saying they thought the Reds had blown it too - and after 12 long years of failure and disappointment, it was finally time for a change. >>> Alex Peake | Thursday, October 01, 2009

The Sun Has Finally Set on New Labour's Love Affair with the Media

THE TELEGRAPH: Like John Major before him, Gordon Brown is now a leader at war with those who report him, says Benedict Brogan

For most people, the details of which newspapers back which parties are about as interesting as the dusty weights and pulleys that keep the conference stage sets in place. What happens behind the theatre curtain is not meant to be noticed. The workings between press and politicians come under what Alastair Campbell used to deride as "processology", of negligible interest to voters perfectly capable of making their own judgments. But every now and then it is worth pulling aside the velvet brocade to understand why things are as they are.

If anything can be said about the Prime Minister's predicament at the end of what must be his last Labour conference as leader, it is that, like John Major before him, he is now a leader at war with those who report him. Not only is his message deeply flawed, but his best route to getting it heard is being closed off.

The Sun's decision to pull the plug on Gordon Brown, and on his big day to boot, is the latest spin in a downward spiral that was already well underway. The defection of the weathervane tabloid, although expected, has had a bigger effect in the Westminster village than it will have in the wider world. Although it compounded the already dire press reaction to the Prime Minister's speech, it also marked the final collapse of relations between New Labour and the media. >>> Benedict Brogan | Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Grande-Bretagne : Le «Sun» lâche le Labour

LE TEMPS: La prise de position du tabloïd souligne la puissance du magnat de la presse Rupert Murdoch

Même la pin-up quotidienne du Sun s’en trouve chamboulée. Au lieu de la traditionnelle page 3, elle s’est retrouvée mercredi renvoyée en page 7. Le tabloïd a en effet décidé d’utiliser le congrès du Parti travailliste pour très officiellement mettre fin à son soutien à Gordon Brown. «Après douze années au pouvoir, ce gouvernement s’est perdu. Maintenant, il a perdu le soutien du Sun aussi.» Sur cinq ­pages, plus un poster à détacher au centre, le tabloïd, qui tire quotidiennement à 3 millions d’exemplaires, détruit méthodiquement le bilan du premier ministre britannique. >>> Eric Albert | Jeudi 01 Octobre 2009