Snide and sneering
Sir: Once a gossip columnist, always a gos- sip columnist. Paul Johnson is right to draw attention to the malignant influence over the years at the Guardian of its putative editor, Alan Rusbridger (The new barons ruling Britain', 5 July).
Once the paper had a civilised, urbane diary which reflected the old fair, liberal traditions of the paper. Then enter Rus- bridger and the column became snide and sneering. No one emerged from his atten- tions with credit. They were scoundrels or they were figures of fun. Given the Guardian's lack of importance, that would have less significance except that its stan- dards of honesty and accuracy (inspired by and sometimes drawn from Private Eye) encouraged other practitioners on other papers in search of cheap notoriety. The baleful effect is most obvious in what passes for a diary in the Evening Standard: surely one reason why its circulation is falling like a stone.
It was predictable that Rusbridger, once he had ousted the handicapped Peter Pre- ston and taken the throne, would seek to create a newspaper much of which is simply a gossip column, and a bad one at that.
The Diary column's present incumbent, whose name I always forget, is a self-con- fessed hypochondriac. In his efforts to be even more offensive and unreadable than his master, he gives the impression that he might also benefit from the attentions of a good psychiatrist.
Ronald Spark
19 The Rotyngs, Rottingdean, East Sussex
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