Janet Street-Porter
A former editor of The Independent on Sunday, Janet Street-Porter is now the paper’s editor-at-large. As a journalist and broadcaster she has had an innovative and groundbreaking career in television, creating programmes for the BBC, Channel 4 and LWT, for which she has won a Bafta and the Prix Italia. She is also vice president of the Rambler’s Association.
Editor-At-Large: The media have turned a tragedy into a spectacle
The killings in Cumbria resulted in a tidal wave of voyeurism fuelled by modern media driven to fill airtime. Is there a criminologist, forensic or investigative psychologist in the UK who hasn't penned a few thoughts in the press or offered their snap reaction?
Recently by Janet Street-Porter
Editor-At-Large: Let's find Fergie a job to do and save her from herself
Sunday, 30 May 2010
Laughing at the bizarre antics of Sarah Ferguson is easy. It's the modern equivalent of bear-baiting or cockfighting... a guilty pleasure that's too seductive to pass up. This woman can't hold on to a tenner, let alone 10,000, and will readily go to the opening of a door providing someone else is paying (and someone sending her a designer frock to wear) but, for a woman who left secretarial college at 18, she certainly delivers memorable quotes. My favourites include: "I'm a complete aristocrat ... I love it", "The Queen is my friend", and (to Saga magazine earlier this year) "Andrew is the most wonderful man in the world". When she tried and failed to sort out antisocial behaviour on a council estate in Manchester, she told a reporter: "Maybe I ought to let Britain settle down a bit... it's so difficult to be supportive and help." Finally, the real icing on the cake: "I haven't got a pot to piss in."
Editor-At-Large: Tesco – every little bit of brand promotion helps
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Sir Terry Leahy says he wants the government to consider setting minimum prices for booze, and supports a ban on selling alcohol at less than the cost price. Why has our biggest retailer suddenly been stricken with a social conscience? Writing in the Telegraph, Sir Terry can't resist a dig at politicians, claiming that although they ask our opinions and seek our votes once every five years, customer consultation is a constant process at Tesco. Yes, but another continual process at the retailer is the maximisation of profits, alongside brand awareness. A constant drip of daily hype from all the supermarkets underlines this battle for sales in a recession. Earlier last week, Asda reported the first quarterly sales drop for four years, following a pattern already established at Morrisons and hinted at by Sainsbury. Next day, it announced it had "taken the lead" in selling cancer drugs without making a profit. Iressa, a drug for lung cancer, for example, will cost £2,167.71 at Asda, compared with £3,251.57 at Boots. Selling much-needed drugs at a discount is to be applauded, but the timing does make one cynical.
Editor-At-Large: Let cynics scoff – a can-do Cabinet may pull it off
Sunday, 16 May 2010
Two men form a coalition, and get pilloried. They put aside their differences, and even manage a joke or two at their first public outing. The result? They're dismissed as the political equivalent of Ant and Dec. Their kitchens and their wives are relentlessly analysed for compatibility, as if these men are reality TV contestants, not senior statesmen.
Editor-At-Large: Business as usual: very few women, far too many men
Sunday, 9 May 2010
The simpering leaders' wives were given more column inches than any female candidate
13 years on: Who's the heir to Blair's lair?
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Janet Street-Porter: Islington South used to be a safe Labour seat. Our writer, a local resident, went to watch the three leading candidates in action and found that even here, the world has moved on
Editor-At-Large: Cameron insists we're all equal. The cheek of it!
Sunday, 18 April 2010
I'm always up for a party – isn't that what we Brits are really good at? Celebrating, doing things to excess, having fun. But this party Dave Cameron wants me to sign up for is strangely unappealing. For a start, what kind of guest list is operating if everyone is included? Where's the guest list? Who's entitled to access the VIP area? Oh, there isn't one. Everyone can wear what they want, bring who they like. Doesn't sound like any kind of party I've ever wanted to attend.
Editor-At-Large: A blow for justice – if you're after the goldfish vote
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Goldfish would not be my pet of choice – all they do is swim around in circles and emit bubbles of air. Come to think of it, that describes most of our MPs. But according to experts, goldfish are a lot smarter than their reputation. They can recognise humans and particular sounds, and even learn tricks, if you're prepared to spend enough time teaching them. And goldfish aren't dumb – they can remember things for up to three months. Best of all, they are able to slow down their metabolism as the temperature of their water gets colder. All of the above shows just why goldfish are entitled to be treated with respect and dignity. Which is why, presumably, a diligent animal lover at Trafford Council decided to prosecute a pet-shop owner, 66, for selling a goldfish to a 15-year-old boy – an offence under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act.
Editor-At-Large: Men showing off is bringing our country to a halt
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Life is full of unexpected small pleasures. Last Friday, listeners to Radio Four's Today programme were granted a 24-carat nugget to treasure. Geoff Hoon – one of the most pompous prats I've encountered – squirmed, grovelled and, finally, apologised! It was a historic moment, one of those occasions when you couldn't wait to wallow all over again on the BBC i-player. Forget plant food, or whatever trendy legal high the kids are currently taking, this public humiliation was better than a class-A drug.
Editor-At-Large: Travel is great in the UK – as long as you are a bat
Sunday, 21 March 2010
What is Lord Adonis doing this weekend? Trying to travel by train? Hoping to board a British Airway plane? Voters are entitled to expect that the Secretary of State for Transport would have the interests of passengers at heart, but I have my doubts. OK, Adonis hasn't been elected and sits in the House of Lords – but telling us he's passionate about trains and touring the country by rail on a cursory fact-finding mission shortly after being appointed doesn't convince me. Coming up with a high speed rail link that will cost billions doesn't impress either – it's macho posturing to impress big business.
Editor-At-Large: Three cheers for our clever, funny Generation Y
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Lucy Neville-Rolfe of Tesco is one of a handful of bosses (including her own chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, and Sir Stuart Rose of M&S;) who seem to delight in denigrating young people, painting a picture of a generation that's not just lazy, but unemployable. Last week, she addressed the Institute of Grocery Distribution, moaning that some school leavers "seem to think the world owes them a living", adding that there was a "fair amount of evidence" exams were "getting easier and failing to stretch people..." and "I find that attitudes have changed."
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2 Michael McCarthy: The tragic loss of British wildlife
3 Terence Blacker: The ways to save the planet
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5 Sean O'Grady: They think Africa's dark age is all over... but is it?
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