There are some people for whom I have a great deal of respect who think hyper-linking back stories distracts from the blog’s narrative. Well, have a look at this terrible beauty from manic (aka Tim Ireland)… And read ALL the back links and you’ll get the full extent of a story that Fleet Street has either totally ignored or was simply too busy to follow up (then look at the lack of detail in the Sun’s belated apology). It concerns the very dubious (and ongoing) relationship between Tory MP Patrick Mercer, who chairs the parliamentary counter terrorism subcommittee, and one very dodgy geezer, Glen Jenvey. Jenvey was the source (and originator creator – audio from bloggerheads.com) of a completely spurious story published by the Sun back in January, with Mercer acting as his ‘conduit’ to give the story credibility in the eyes of the journalist. Despite the MP’s denial that there was any kind of ongoing relationship between the two, Bloggerheads has evidence pointing to the fact that his staff were proactively working with him months after the January scam. And they wonder why trust is an issue with some elected politicians…
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty