Lip Service

Reuters:

Now the world knows Britain's Prince Harry is in Afghanistan, the question on many lips is whether it was right for the media to keep quiet about it for so long.

More to the story:

In a series of meetings at the Ministry of Defence late last year, British media and selected international outlets agreed not to report Harry's deployment in exchange for getting regular pictures, video and text of his day-to-day activities once the planned four-month assignment was completed.

There was a reluctance to sign up to such a deal, and an expectation among many that the "understanding", as it was called, would inevitably, rapidly be broken given the nature of Britain's cut-throat, "exclusive-or-nothing" tabloid press.

But once everyone was on board it was a case of seeing who would blink first and if no one did, then the agreement might just end up working in everyone's interests -- the Ministry of Defence, the media, Harry and the soldiers fighting alongside him, and the public who would read and hear all about it.

In the end, those who were party to the understanding stuck by it, but word leaked out and rumours slowly spread.

An Australian Web site got wind of something in January, but not enough to make it stick.

German newspaper Bild ran a gossip item on Wednesday, but again the Ministry of Defence hoped the chatter would quickly die down. Until the U.S. Drudge Report blog picked it up.

Missed on the red carpet ..

All sorts of grump'n and fuss'n over the Orange Ribbon Column at the Academy Awards and their in your face "we support terrorists" strutt'n about.

One thing that was missed was someone else with something else on his lapel. Something done on purpose in full knowledge of the head-wind he was going against, and in full knowledge that the few who saw it would know the message he was sending.

See that guy on the right? Well, get a new angle on Mickey Rooney. Someone, as John might say, we should know - or at least know better.
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