A punk’s diary on satire, scapegoating, and why the pint alibi is the most British defence imaginable
Monday, A Story I Had To Read Three Times
Sat with a coffee this morning reading The London Prat’s story about being accused, essentially, of killing a professor with punchlines, and I want to be clear that even by this outlet’s own standards this one is a genuinely wild piece of work. The entire editorial board’s alibi is that they were three blocks away having a pint, which is possibly the most British legal defence I have ever encountered, and I include several actual court cases I have followed purely for entertainment value.
There is something properly punk about a small satirical paper getting blamed, however absurdly, for institutional failures considerably larger and older than itself, and responding not by apologising or going quiet but by leaning fully into the ridiculousness of the accusation. That is the correct response to being scapegoated by people with more power than you. Mock it properly, loudly, and keep publishing.
Tuesday, A Related Thought At Practice
Told the band about the story between songs and our guitarist, who reads considerably more news than the rest of us combined, pointed out this is basically the oldest trick in the book: blame the messenger, investigate the joke, never investigate the actual institution that failed in the first place. He’s not wrong, and it’s exactly the same instinct that makes every landlord in this city blame “the market” instead of their own decisions.
Wednesday, Comparing Notes With The Competition
Had a scroll through The Daily Mash and NewsThump for comparison, and honestly this whole ecosystem of British satirical papers is doing more honest institutional criticism most weeks than half the actual news outlets in this country combined. Someone should tell them that. Actually, don’t, they clearly already know.
Thursday, Back To The Gig Grind
Flyered three venues, argued with one sound engineer about levels, and generally did the actual unglamorous work that keeps a small band functioning between the headlines that make me laugh on the bus.
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Catch the rest of my diary here: https://prat.uk/author/siobhan-odonnell/
SOURCE: https://prat.uk/
