The Yellow Press

In Victorian times the expression the "Yellow Press" came from "Penny Dreadfuls", newspapers printed on cheap (hence yellow) paper and full of lurid tales of the lumpen proletariat misbehaving and the latest sightings of Jack the Ripper or his maiden aunt. These were aimed at those the Victorians referred to as the "Feeble minded" - the downtrodden masses who needed to be protected from Gin, gambling, immorality and other occasions of sin. OK, the world has moved on but are the feeble minded and the yellow press not still with us?

How else do you explain the rash of trash celeb mags of which the prime example is the ironically titled "OK" owned by Richard Desmond who made his wealth from titles such as "Asian Babes" and "Bored Housewives" but who would now have us believe that he is a respectable newspaper proprietor as owner of the Daily Express.

The current edition of “OK contains hooks on the cover for articles on Glamour Model Jordan aka Katie Price and of the equally emotionally incontinent Kerry Katona, late of Atomic Kitten and marriage to Brian McFadden of Westlife. Nothing surprising here as there are articles on these two every second week as their tacky lives are charted in excruciating detail. Indeed at between 10 to 20 thousand pounds an article for “exclusive” insights into their dysfunctional lives accompanied by “amazing never seen before” photos over 5 pages of Grade A wallpaper “OK” appears to be the main source of income for these and other “famous for being famous” characters.

But a new low has been reached in the midst of the saga of the missing child Madeline McCann with the innuendo on the "Jordan and Pete" headline "We would never leave our kids on their own" and in case the lumpen proletariat are a bit slow and don’t get it the incontinent Kerry's headline on the same cover is "I would never leave my kids like the McCann's". Can there be a cheaper shot to persuade readers to buy a magazine?

Is it any wonder the UK press has such a trashy reputation when this type of journalism, accurately described by Northcliffe (A previous proprietor of the Express) as "Non news about non people" is in the ascendancy?

For the record I think Madeline McCann's parents are victims both of a crime and of trashy non-journalism. One of our friends on holiday earlier this year had a heart operation carried out by Gerry McCann at Leicester Royal Infirmary where he works as a heart surgeon and his wife is a local GP. By no stretch of the imagination do they meet the profile of people who would murder a child. This is why I was glad to see Sir Richard Branson publicly help them deal with the smear campaign - on this as on so many other things over the years his instincts are surely right.

There is real tragedy here as opposed to the manufactured in – out of Rehab / surgery / court / new lover / old lover/ bankruptcy “tragedy” which “OK” magazine and its modern yellow press equivalents rely on to titillate their remedial readership. There is an innocent child missing and the focus must return to following the evidence to solve the crime and find the missing child. The McCann’s tragedy is no worse but also certainly no less than any other family who has had a child taken from them in any circumstances. What has set this apart is the reaction of the parents, two capable people in caring professions, who have refused to lie down and play victim but who have instead run a superb campaign to highlight what has happened. Whatever the outcome for their daughter, and experience doesn’t lead us to be hopeful, they have made the possibility of future “Madeline’s” being abducted less likely and they have raised awareness of an important issue. For this and the brave example they have shown they deserve our gratitude.

As for the trash world of desperate attention seeking Celebs with no iota of talent or intelligence between them maybe we should bite the PC bullet and officially designate them as "feeble minded" and in need of protection?