Outrage! Moral Panic, Faux-Prudishness and the Press
The press seem to be going through a phase of moral panic. For some reason, ever since Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand left rude messages on a celebrity’s answering machine, the media has frolicked in a bath of controversy – neck-deep in shock, horror and outrage.
Somehow, at some point, ‘newspapers’ like the Sun, the News of the World and the Daily Mail decided it was their job to defend Britain’s moral standards. The bizarre thing is that these newspapers are purveyors of celebrity skin and page three girls.
So on the one hand they say “Oh my God someone has said a rude word!”.
And on the other hand they say “Oh my God look at her cleavage!” – accompanied by ten large colour photographs of the cleavage that we should be outraged about. It’s hilarious. I must thank these tabloids for bringing to my attention so many things to be outraged about. Without them, I would be unraged.
Outrage: