Hate Mail goes too far

Long known by the sobriquet the Daily Hate Mail, the right-wing tabloid the Daily Mail has really lived up to its name and sparked a Twitter and media fury over an article penned by popular columnist Jan Moir about the death of Boyzone star Stephen Gately.

The article is homophobic, bigoted and salacious. It intrudes into the grief of Stephen's family and friends and the author has the audacity to quote the poor man's mother and challenges her in the most undignified manner.

Reading the article is like going back in time at least twenty years. I cannot honestly remember when I have read something so shocking in its shameless use of innuendo, sarcasm, patronisation, belittling language and general vitriol. All this against a man who has died from natural causes (Ms Moir even attempts to contradict the pathologist), with a grieving family and partner left behind to make sense of all this.

Where do people like Jan Moir get off writing this kind of drivel? Is her own life so sad, so lonely, so tragic and so devoid of warmth and emotion that she has to resort to peddling crap like this? 

Perhaps it is because the article was written by a woman that I am even more shocked. I do not know whether Jan Moir is a mother, or has any maternal instincts whatsoever. Perhaps I am being sexist in some way in even expecting a female writer to show more compassion, more feeling and more humanity towards people in these sad circumstances. But Ms Moir comes across as downright heartless, mean, vindictive, callous and somehow almost violent in her attempt to condemn Stephen Gately, his life and the manner in (she supposes) which he died. How can she, at the most basic of human levels, write from such an uniformed perspective, knowing what hurt it would cause to those who knew and loved Stephen Gately.

Charlie Brooker of the Guardian offers a much more erudite and charming riposte against this pathetic woman's bile.

If anything positive has come out of this it is the furious reaction shown by the users of social network Twitter, which erupted in spontaneous outbursts of revulsion and condemnation. Journalists, celebrities and general users united to show their opposition to this vile and hateful article. The last week has shown the power of Twitter and the blogosphere to give shape to the feelings of millions of people and media outlets, libel lawyers and multi-national oil companies have all this week learned that the safety they used to enjoy when news outlets were more tightly controlled, no longer exists in the digital age.

Also, companies who advertise with newspapers who peddle this twaddle have also found their voice over this issue. Led by Marks & Spencer (their Chairman Sir Stuart Rose was awarded his K for services to CSR, as well as to retail), online ads have been pulled from the page on which the Moir column appears. 


If moral arguments cannot get to the Daily Mail, then hitting them in their advertising revenues might have more of an effect.