From Yes, Prime Minister! , a long running British series that is always a useful primer on the behavior of risk adverse institutions. In this instance, the Prime Minister Jim Hacker is played by Paul Eddington, the Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby is played by Nigel Hawthorne. Hacker's Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley, is played by Derek Fowlds. It was a wonderful series.
Sir Humphrey: The only way to understand the Press is to remember that they pander to their readers' prejudices.Jim Hacker: Don't tell me about the Press. I know exactly who reads the papers.The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country;
The Guardian is read by people who think they 'ought' to run the country;
The Times is read by the people who actually 'do' run the country;
The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country;
The Financial Times is read by people who 'own' the country;
The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by 'another country;
and The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.Sir Humphrey: Oh, and Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care who runs the country as long as she's got big tits.
In many ways, not much has changed in fifty years.
There are all sorts of variations in the American context such as:
The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country.USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand the fuss made by the Washington Post and The New York Times.The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country, if they could spare the time and didn't have to leave LA to do it.The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and they did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country, and don't really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country, as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country or that anyone is running it; but whoever it is, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders belong to and identifiable marginalized minority victim group, as long as they are Democrats.The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.
A not unreasonable approximation.
The original performance from 1987.
“Sun readers don’t care who runs the country as long as she’s got big tits.”
— Michael Warburton (@MichaelWarbur17) December 4, 2022
YES, PRIME MINISTER (1987) #PaulEddington #NigelHawthorne #DerekFowlds
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