About a week ago this editorial appeared in the Oldham Evening Chronicle:-
We suppose editor David Whaley has our good selves in mind when he makes his ill-informed remarks. Somebody has to stand up to the talentless megalomaniacs in the Ivory Tower and it sure ain't the Oldham Chronicle. What should be the voice of the people is now nothing more than the official organ of Oldham Council. Perhaps if the Chron had been more vociferous in the past, about the shortcomings and failed grandiose plans of the council, we might not be in the sorry state we are to-day. How dare Whaley criticise anyone who doesn't agree with his biased view. We have as much right to harry council members as he has to praise and buff them up like gold turds. No criticism of councillors, council plans, expenses inflation, the ability of certain members, the intelligence of certain members is allowed in the columns of the Council Gazette. The great moderator has spoken. Well, here's the news: You won't say it so we must.
All Whaley seems interested in is getting in as many photo ops as possible, posing with his new masters. Still he is little more than a photograph salesman anyhow. The impartiality, free spirit and occasional irreverence of past editors has been ditched and replaced with a forelock tugging yes man in charge of the turgid, so called, 'Last Newspaper In Oldham.' Wrong, David. The paper now contains little or no 'News.' What bit there is, is usually days out of date, is gleaned from other publications and is given to us in handy bite size pieces about the size of a postage stamp. Half the time, the news is not even about the local area. Who wants to read about a chimney fire in Westhoughton or a bicycle stolen in Wythenshawe? At a rough estimate over 60% of the available space each evening is given over to adverts. Roughly 20% of these are adverts advertising the Oldham Chronicle or adverts selling photos from the myriad schemes set up by the Chron, purely to sell more photos. What are even more weird are the ads throughout the paper advertising what we can look forward to reading in the next couple of pages. Left to our own devices I'm sure we can all learn to lick our thumbs, turn the pages and stumble delightedly upon the unforeseen delights. There is more news in the Advertiser. He berates us for knocking Sunny Jim. It matters not, to us that he has been in power only a matter of days. We remember him from last time. Jim ' Can I Have More Expenses On Top Of The 22 grand I'm fleecing you out of already,' cos I've got to do an interview,' McMahon. Mr Do Nowt, like all his Lie-bour cronies. How many years of this have we had? These are basically the same sad, clueless, placemen we have had for the past thirty years. The editor castigates us for, 'rubbishing the priorities he has set out for the first period of the administration.' Where was Whaley during the last twenty periods of previous Lie-bour administrations when the blowhards were creating 'Jerusalem in England's green and pleasant land'? Look around you man! The town is more like Dresden after the blitz. You're living in a dream world. The rest of us meanwhile are living a nightmare. 'It's a good job that all is not happy and sorted in the borough,' he bleats. 'What would we find to moan about otherwise.' You arrogant stupid bastard. Can you not see the shitehole this town has become? Do your rose-tinted Lie-bour specs so blind you to the derelict, squalid, dirt-ridden, cut off from the world, town that Oldham has become, that YOU have forgotten who brought us to this sorry state? Day after day your readers complain about the shortcomings of the numpties in the tower. Do we hear a howl of protest from the Chron in support? Not likely. They don't want to lose their only news item.
'Some are poor political losers.' Aye lad, we're all losers and a lot of us are a lot poorer thanks to the political shenanigans of people whom we elected to serve the borough not dance like puppets for their masters down in London.
'Many in the borough are sick and tired of the negative influence that this vocal minority seek to wield.' Yes you're right David. We are all sick and tired of the negative influence that you and the sixty teat-suckers on the council have foisted upon us for years.
The editor's conclusions? - 'Yes there are problems.' There's the understatement of the year. We are assailed on all sides by problems. Problems that no-one in the Tower of Babble has a clue how to solve.
'Not every decision taken turns out to be the right one.' No! very few of them do. It's the cost, monetary and in human misery of all the wrong decisions accumulating over the years that pisses us off.
'We have to give the people elected the opportunity to try to move the town forward.' Are you having a laff? These are the same bunch of numbskulls that we had last time Lie-bour were in power. They did nowt then. They'll do nowt now. They are bereft of ideas. They have no money for any of these 'schemes' and self interest will, as usual, take over from common sense. They haven't the faintest clue how to move this town forward. We'll still be waiting come the next election
Whatever it is that we have to offer Mr Whaley, it is designed to get people interested. To ask questions. To not blindly accept all the pap spewing from the council chamber, to get involved. At one time we would have expected the Oldham Chronicle and it's editor to have been the voice of the people. We would have expected harsh criticism of the way this town is and has been run for years. But no! We mustn't disturb the equilibrium. The Oldham Chronicle has become the Mogadon Chronicle, gently ironing the creases out of the fabric of life. We are now so stupefied we are seemingly incapable of resistance. We, the whingers and moaners intend to change that. Whaley! Grow a pair. Stop your brown nosin.' and posin.' Try and be of some use to this town other than as a photographic model.
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