There is a lot of guff and nonsense written by hacks about “speaking truth to power” which is often just tweeting rants to followers or berating a minister on air for infotainment. It takes real bravery for a journalist to accuse their editor of two acts of law breaking. Only two days ago an unidentified man clad in tennis whites was pictured in the Sunday Mirror exiting Rachel Johnson’s Notting Hill home, where she had stayed overnight far from her family locked down 185 miles away in Exmoor. No newspaper has managed in three days since to identify the man as Times editor, John Witherow.
Next time some hack starts going on about their duty to “speak truth to power”, ask them why no publication or news show looked into this story. Hardly covering themselves in glory about one of the most powerful men in the media and the sister of the PM are they? Though on page 5 of The Times this morning George Grylls in a Q & A explains the legislation on tennis playing and house entering. That is real bravery, speaking truth to your editor…
Our cartoon this morning is based on the Sunday Mirror’s cracking story “Boris Johnson’s sister Rachel flouts lockdown to stay at second home and play tennis“. The story features pictures of her in tennis gear on Saturday morning, miles from her Somerset home where her husband and child are self-isolating. She says that she has her LBC show to do on a Friday and that is why she stayed overnight at her Notting Hill home. Unexplained is why she, unlike other LBC presenters, can’t do the show down the line from home…
Also unexplained is why she had to play tennis the following morning, or as the Sunday Mirror puts it
“Rachel has certainly played the advantage, hob-nobbing with pals yesterday and enjoying the sunshine despite her brother’s guidelines putting second homes well beyond reach during lockdown – as well as banning movement between two households.”
Pictured coming out of her house in his tennis gear is John Witherow, the editor of The Times. It appears the Sunday Mirror did not recognise him because they caption him only as “A man leaves Rachel’s property after giving her a lift home from a tennis club”. They will be kicking themselves for missing that surely…
The story was followed up this morning by MailOnline, with a handy map showing the 185-mile journey from Rachel’s home. This time there is no picture or even mention of her game with a tennis partner. Nothing in the Daily Express or the Metro about the rival paper’s editor in their coverage either. The Guardian appears to have missed the story entirely. Can’t see any mention of the story in The Times…
