I found this delicious article on line today. The great thing about good satire is that it could - just could - be real and always a funny and truthful commentary of our sad times. Here it is: After a long campaign Murdoch’s Times Newspaper has bowed to pressure and decided not to print the Times’ Crossword in the paper any longer…a decision welcomed by campaigners from the ‘No More Times’ Elitist Crosswords’ campaign and MPs. In an age when intellectually challenging word games became more readily available on the internet, the Times crossword came to be regarded as more of an anachronism. The status of the Intellectual in society had changed too. To a new generation, it was rather surreal to open a newspaper and see such a self-evidently intellectually elitist pursuit amid stories about Hollyoaks actresses and popstar nymphettes in bed with Premier League footballers. Campaigner, actor and writer Lucy-Anne Holmes, started the ‘No More Times Elitist Crosswords’ campaign…she said it was a great day for those cowed by the brilliance of others that so often kept them in the shadows and made them feel intellectually inferior. Elspeth Morris, a cleaner on Virgin Express trains, said she often felt intimidated and demeaned when she came across Times newspapers left on seats with the filled-in crossword uppermost saying that such conspicuous completion of the intellectually demanding puzzle in a public place was tantamount to a hate crime waiving people’s inadequacies in their faces and rubbing their noses in their lack of education and limited natural talent for academic subjects. ..a public humiliation for so many that made them feel they had no place in a society that put such a high value on academic achievement. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan called it a “long-overdue decision”, which “marks a small but significant step towards improving media portrayal of those less intellectually gifted”. She stated that we must stop celebrating academic achievement if it meant that other people were made to feel inadequate and rather stupid when in the presence of someone doing the Times Crossword especially in public spaces such as trains, or even in the corridors of power, where she understands that it is common practise for Times Crossword aficionados to ostentatiously brandish completed crosswords under the noses of those passing by, relishing in the feelings of inadequacy they were able to generate in less gifted people who couldn’t complete the crossword. Lucy-Anne Holmes also stated that it was a great day for the intellectually challenged and a victory for society that recognised brains weren’t everything…children should not have to be pressured at school into pursuing academic excellence….school, and society, should be emphasing the softer skills, the arts, the importance of human relationships, cooperation, kindness and tolerance. Rupert Murdoch Tweeted in response ‘Bollox’ but apparently that was just an answer to 5 across. He apologised for any confusion. BBC presenter Jane Garvey was forced to resign when in the course of a programme discussing the issues surrounding the Times Crossword campign she made the fatal mistake of taking sides and uttered the words ‘It’s gone, we hope’ when told the news that the Times had abandoned the crossword.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 20:30:44 +0000
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