I'm always harping on about how the news agenda has been hijacked by companies disguising an ad for their products as something topical and noteworthy.
It's a form of corruption that has always existed but its very acceptance these days is allowing the cancer to creep further and further into the media to the extent that it is displacing real news stories and undermining the media's very raison d'etre – to inform the masses.
As such I've half decided to highlight particularly poor examples whenever I have a minute. Today's is not the frankly ridiculous fake scandals still being dreamed up around the Celebrity Big Brother contestants, but rather a story that appeared on page 3 of the Sunday Times news section.
Page 3 of the Sunday Times news section is pure gold in terms of news stories. It can be assumed that about 80 percent of the people that buy the paper will at least skim the story. And considering the Times' reach and readership, that is pretty significant.
So why on earth does this aimless, pointless advert-dressed-up-as-news appear?
Blunt goes into battle to win over America
The singer James Blunt will this week attempt to overcome sharp attacks from American critics and win the hearts of US music industry executives and celebrities.
With the help of the most expensive marketing campaign for a British pop singer in the US since Robbie Williams, Blunt will perform a “showcase” concert before celebrities and record executives in Los Angeles for the Grammys, the Oscars of the music world.
Industry insiders estimate that Custard, Blunt’s record company, has spent up to £1m preparing the way for the show at the House of Blues on Sunset Strip. They believe it is make or break time in the US for the former Household Cavalry officer turned troubadour.
Though the floppy-haired singer has been selling steadily in America, some critics have savaged his high voice and sugary teen appeal. Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times, the city’s most influential rock critic, is likely to be at the concert. He has dismissed Blunt’s music as “empty romantic devotion… meant to be unabashedly heartfelt (but) unbearably saccharine”.
It goes on and on like this for another 10 paragraphs, including stories clearly provided by the music company's press department about girls crying in LA because his album won't be out until next week, about how “he is expected to be introduced by the actress Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy”.
We are told a concert of his “sold out in seconds”, and that its guest list “is stuffed with celebrities, including Mariah Carey and Joss Stone”. We are told that “Tom Hanks, who is said to have been introduced to Blunt’s music by his children, is also expected”.
This isn't news – this is an advert for James Blunt's new album – what the fuck is it doing on page three of the Sunday Times' news section?
The Sunday Times is a walking bank. Advertisers love it. The reason there are so many sections is because there are so many advertisers who want to appear in front of people's faces on Sunday, when people are taking it easy, relaxing and thinking about bigger things.
The paper has been in the position for decades now – much to the rampant irritation of other Sunday newspapers, and clearly the corruption of having sales as such an important consideration has leaked through to editorial. There will always be a bit of this, but the leak became a trickle, has become a flood.
The paper has been dreadful for months. A fortnight ago, I bought the Observer alongside the Sunday Times to compare – and realised it was a far superior newspaper. Last week, I bought the Independent on Sunday with the Times, and again thought the IoS was better – although much more plodding than the Observer.
My main problem was finding a half-decent TV guide. I didn't like either the Observer's or IoS'. However I realised today that in actual fact the News of the World's TV guide is pretty good. [I always buy the News of the World just to find out what is important on in the popular culture world – but usually just chuck the TV guide immediately.]
And so, after at least 15 years of loyal service I have decided to ditch the Sunday Times and plumb for The Observer. I may move again, who knows, but frankly there comes a time when a paper just isn't worth buying anymore.
The James Blunt puff-piece was the final straw.