Stephen Gately: Jan Moir Poised To Escape The 21000 Twitter Haters
Stephen Gately: Jan Moir is a global star, the PCC ready to reject 21,000 complaints, Ludovic Kennedy RIP and Twitter is only good for PR…
THE Death of Ludovic Kennedy, as told by Jan Moir.
Ludo, Stephen, Melvin, Germaine, Paxo; we all know who they are. And we are not being ghoulish to anticipate, or to be mentally braced for, their bad end: a long night, a mysterious stranger, an odd set of circumstances that herald a sudden death.
Sir Ludovic spent a life investigating miscarriages of justice, contributed to the abolition of the death penalty and was president of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society.
Another real sadness about Ludovic’s death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of marriages.
While Jan Moir is ser to become the Daily Mail’s obituary writer – hey, Jan RIP means Rest In Peace not RIP to shreds – the media continues to write about the vibrant career of Jan Moir. As we’ve said, this middle-aged frump is having her Susan Boyle moment.
The Daily Mail is delighted:
A worldwide debate over a Daily Mail article on the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately spread over the internet at the weekend.
Columnist Jan Moir’s comments on the singer’s shocking death sparked an extraordinary online response using sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Thousands have been moved to comment on Moir’s column after she wrote in last Friday’s paper about the circumstances surrounding the star’s death in Majorca, when he and his civil partner invited a Bulgarian man to their flat.
You’ve made it, Jan. The world knows who you are. You never needed a balloon and Loft Boy. You just stood on Stephen Gately’s corpse and spread your wings.
The Mail has helped turn Stephen Gately’s death into a debate. Janet Street- Proter joins it, in the Mail:
What exactly was bothering Jan? The fact Stephen was gay, the fact he was in a civil partnership, or the fact that he or his partner might have enjoyed sex with someone they had just met?
Is there an option (d), all of the above and more?
If Stephen and his partner went to a nightclub and returned to their flat with another man, is it really any of our business?
Well, is it? Is It? Come on. Yes or no? Is it any of our business? Hurry up, Ludo’s died and the Mail’s hacks have got to move on.’
Meanwhile, what about those complaints levelled against gay rights champion Moir?
Britain’s press watchdog said Monday it had received a record 21,000 complaints about a newspaper column on the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately after critics used Twitter to brand the article homophobic and insensitive.
Sounds like lots. So what will the powers that be do with Moir? Sodomised with a rolled up copy of the Mail my a mysterious stranger? A book deal? Invited to take Gately’s place in Boyzone?
“The PCC does not generally accept complaints from third parties about cases involving named individuals without the signed authorisation of the person concerned.”
So…
A response issued by the PCC to an individual third party complainant, Nikki Bayley (@nikkib on Twitter), reproduced in full here on MetroDeco, seemed to indicate a third party complaint would not be addressed in relation to Moir:
“On this occasion, it may be a matter for the family of Mr Gately to raise a complaint about how his death has been treated by the Daily Mail. I can inform you that we have made ourselves available to the family and Mr Gately’s bandmates, in order that they can use our services if they wish. We require the direct involvement of affected parties because the PCC process can have a public outcome and it would be discourteous for the Commission to publish information relating to individuals without their knowledge or consent. Indeed, doing so might unwittingly add to any intrusion. Additionally, one of the PCC’s roles is dispute resolution, and we would need contact with the affected party in order to determine what would be an acceptable means of settling a complaint. On initial examination, it would appear that you are, therefore, a third party to the complaint, and we will not be able to pursue your concerns further. However, if you feel that your complaint touches on claims that do not relate directly to Mr Gately or his family, please let us know, making clear how they raise a breach of the Code of Practice. If you feel that the Commission should waive its third party rules, please make clear why you believe this.
So unless you were directly affected by the matter you cannot lodge a complaint, you can just be offended and not read the Mail; or if you enjoy being offended, you can read the Mail every day.
Enough already. Who’s ready for a joke? Too soon?
Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Michael Gray today denied making “sick jokes” about Stephen Gately while Coventry’s Aron Gunnarsson was being treated for a serious injury at Hillsborough on Saturday…
On Best’s allegations, Gray told Sheffield Wednesday’s official website: “Anyone who knows me knows I would not conduct myself in that way. I find it disappointing that another player would suggest I made those kind of comments. The words that have been published are misleading and way off the mark and I dismiss them completely.”
Best had told the Coventry Telegraph: “Gray tried to get him to get up and then he was making sick jokes about Stephen Gately when the people carrying the stretcher were coming on.”
Funny thing to make up. But, then, football is a funny old game. Queer, even. And there’s nowt as queer as folk, eh Jan? And wotsamatter – can’t yer take a joke?
The Daily Star’s Kim Dawson, Playlist Editor and Boyzone fan, reports:
While interviewing him for his solo album, Stephen had me in tears of laughter with his filthy jokes, littered with colourful language. Squeaky clean, but never boring.
And he’s still not boring even after death. Join the debate…
Posted: 19th, October 2009 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comments (3) | TrackBack | Permalink
