In one of those moments of sudden clarity, when the brain (well, my brain, anyway) spontaneously deconstructs some mundane truism or other, I wondered…
Why are party conferences given so much coverage in the media?
It’s a bunch of paid-up party members listening to their favourite politicians telling them things that have been carefully written to make them remain happy and positive about those politicians. How is that in any way newsworthy? We know what they think from the everyday political news, and we’ll find out how they intend to win the election when they release their manifesto. Why do we need an hour-by-hour description of their annual love-in?
In Bristol today, a large crowd gathered to watch as a man with a sweet tooth ate a bar of chocolate and then described the experience as ‘favourable’.
The word “conference” is a nonsense, when the events in question are actually rallies (or “conventions” if you’re sensitive to Nuremberg connotations).
Indeed!