“Christ, this is heavier than I remember….”

This from today’s leader in the Independent newspaper,on the subject of the TV Leaders’ debates:

‘Some observers have suggested that the format has encouraged people who know nothing about politics to treat the election as a kind of game show and to cast their vote on superficial grounds of looks, demeanour and glib sound bites….That criticism might carry more weight if the alternative to the televised debates were day-long study groups in which circles of concerned citizens studied the manifestos and took part in seminars with party cadres. In practice, the alternative would be further apathy and alienation. Whatever their flaws, the debates have reached a mass audience. Although a lot of the reporting of them has focused on style, process, tactics and opinion polls, the democratic gain has been that perhaps 10 million people have watched at least one 90-minute debate, both of which were serious, policy-heavy engagements.’

On the question of carrying weight, that paragraph would carry more weight if (a) there was any evidence at all that people had taken in the policy arguments on display, and (b) it had been written about a week ago, when this might have been a vaguely interesting observation. As it is, the Indie’s leader is a dead weight riding a severely flogged horse in entirely the wrong direction.

The Indie has replaced the Guardian in our newspaper set as The One that’s Always Wrong. But of late it’s added The One that Never Spots the Contradiction, and The One that keeps Banging on about Something After Everyone Else has Moved On.

It has, of course, gone bankrupt based on these policies – and was earlier this month sold for just £1. Poor Gavin O’Reilly: a life spent trying to live up to his old man.

The Independent sold an average of 184,137 copies daily in March, down more than 10% compared with the same period last year. Full rate circulation was 88,976, 48% of the total. Simon Kelner is now in active charge, which might explain why the departure of the editor hasn’t made a jot of difference to the title. The new ‘viewspaper’ format was launched last week by Teasy-Weasy Curly-Wurly adman Trevor Beattie, the world’s most irritating Brummie.

Given Trev also did the ads for the Labour Party’s election campaign, my hopes weren’t high on learning that his agency BMB had won the Indie’s account. By the look of the posters, I’d say Beattie simply recycled the ads that Gordon turned down – as they’re basically about ‘independent’ people (gerritt?) deciding the election. This is a rehash of the original Saatchi campaign that launched the title 25 years ago – ‘It’s independent – are you?’ – only, minus the style and originality.

The paper is doomed if it carries on like this.