Last week I let fly at the Jewish Chronicle. I received a lot of support from so many of my readers, with offers of good offices. But as is often the case, things have moved on. So here’s an update.
This whole business started when I wrote in my weekly essay that the JC’s treatment of the Richard Desmond affair was ‘using the tactics of the gutter press’. I then received this email message from Simon Rocker at the JC who had commissioned a piece from me:
Jeremy,
I have some bad news. Our editor David Rowan is upset at your reference to us in your weekly email (re Desmond) as “gutter press” and has asked me not to commission you. Hence I am now unable to use the piece. I hope you understand.
And that, of course, sparked off my diatribe!
David Rowan has now been in touch with me directly. Here is the main body of his email:
Jeremy,
At risk of diminishing the drama, I didn’t ban you, nor do I have a problem with attacks on the way the JC covers stories, as you’ll see from the dissent I¹ve been keen to find space for in our letters page. As you know, my specific and only concern was your use of your public platform to accuse the JC of being ‘the gutter press’, which I can’t see any paper tolerating. My instructions to Simon were to pay you (in full, not a kill fee) for pieces awaiting use and to hold off commissioning new pieces for the near future while this was fresh in people’s minds.
So there you have it. Lets not quibble. Peace reigns and we can get back to watching the World Cup!
