As any fule kno, one unwritten (but important) law of British journalism stipulates that the annual stories about record GCSE and A-Level passes must be accompanied by photographs of what dear old Private Eye always refers to as 'fruity girls' - and it's not just the poisonous 'mid' market gripe-sheets that are at it. Examples abound from both the leftmost and rightmost ends of the narrow spectrum of available opinion, as expressed by our fourth estate.
Hacks at the Daily Mail, naturally, given their rag's famously confused mix of faux moral uprightness and leering prurience, are master exponents of the observance of this rule. So that when that 'paper writes something designed to invite snorts of derision from oldies outraged by evidence of an alleged 'none shall fail' culture, little blonde honeys are de riguer. Mastery of this form was amply evident when, last summer, Mail reporters Laura Clark and Sophie Freeman combined to cover comments from 'two brains' Willetts about the scramble for university places. This ostensibly quite dull item was livened up no end by a cheerful shot of a few pulchritudinous Geordie lasses.
Guardianistas, too, got a little eye candy of their own when Education Editor Jeevan Vasagar weighed in with his own coverage of the relentless rise of the A-level pass rate. More blondeness. More than a hint of youthful cleavage. Nary a hint of the organ's supposed political correctness when it comes to the picture editor's role.
Hacks at the Daily Mail, naturally, given their rag's famously confused mix of faux moral uprightness and leering prurience, are master exponents of the observance of this rule. So that when that 'paper writes something designed to invite snorts of derision from oldies outraged by evidence of an alleged 'none shall fail' culture, little blonde honeys are de riguer. Mastery of this form was amply evident when, last summer, Mail reporters Laura Clark and Sophie Freeman combined to cover comments from 'two brains' Willetts about the scramble for university places. This ostensibly quite dull item was livened up no end by a cheerful shot of a few pulchritudinous Geordie lasses.
Guardianistas, too, got a little eye candy of their own when Education Editor Jeevan Vasagar weighed in with his own coverage of the relentless rise of the A-level pass rate. More blondeness. More than a hint of youthful cleavage. Nary a hint of the organ's supposed political correctness when it comes to the picture editor's role.
This well-worn device can be used in contexts besides the reporting of education matters, of course. The context in which it was employed in this morning's Metro, though, was a new one for this is my england. Consider how the commuters' giveaway chose to cover the delayed evictions from illegally occupied plots on the travellers' site at Dale Farm in Essex. Guess what? Even among the widely reviled traveller folk of this island, fruity girls can be found! Blonde ones!
But surely we're all supposed to hate gypo/pikey/diddicoy scum, aren't we? Isn't it positively mainstream to discuss them in terms we'd never dream of using with reference to any other minority? I would have thought, then, that flagging up the existence of teenage totty in their midst is unwise in the extreme. It might stimulate some level of sympathetic feeling for the people of the road.
But surely we're all supposed to hate gypo/pikey/diddicoy scum, aren't we? Isn't it positively mainstream to discuss them in terms we'd never dream of using with reference to any other minority? I would have thought, then, that flagging up the existence of teenage totty in their midst is unwise in the extreme. It might stimulate some level of sympathetic feeling for the people of the road.
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