Enemies of Reason Poundshop potshots at the media moral maze.

Look at this bitch! 2

In Look at this bitch! I droned on about ordinary women who are caught up in the news and therefore fall into the range of the Mail's snipers. But it's not just ordinary Joannas who get flayed alive by the Hate's army of snotty columnists and readers; there are 'celebrity' women, too, who are fair game for a tsunami of hatred aimed in their general direction.

It's not just Lily Allen, whose stalking at the hands of the Mail's pap friends has been especially pointless and reprehensibly intrusive (and possibly based on a well-known rumour about her recent personal life that I won't be repeating here).

Enter Kerry Katona, who appeared on telly today looking a little out of the ordinary. Which could elicit a couple of responses or questions. You could feel sympathetic for her, as someone who appears to be struggling socially. You could wonder why, if she was perhaps not entirely in the best of health, the TV producers decided it would be for the best for her to be interviewed live by Philip and Fern. You could ask why the promoters of her MTV documentary series, given that they know her current state better than most folk, thought it was wise to thrust her into the spotlight - unless they knew all too well, and decided that it would be wonderful publicity for their programme? All along the line you have to look at why this happened, and you can do so with compassion and sympathy for the person involved.

Or...

VIDEO: Out of control Kerry Katona slurs her way through an interview on This Morning
Former Atomic Kitten star Kerry Katona shocked viewers today after she made an erratic appearance live on This Morning.
The reality television star, who has previously battled drug addiction, slurred her way through an interview with Fern Britton and Philip Schofield.
The presenters were clearly worried about her state and told her they had been contacted by viewers during her interview expressing concern.
Philip said: 'You don't seem right to me. You've got the body sorted but your speech is a bit slurred. How are you feeling?'

Hang on. If Philip Schofield could tell this from a few seconds of conversation, how the hell was this missed in the green room? How on earth did no-one notice what was about to happen? Or was it noticed, and then ignored? Surely there's something important to consider there?

I don't think it's too conspiratorial to point out here that, had the BBC made this programme, the Mail would have been all over them like a cheap suit, wheeling out the usual attacks aganist their bete noire. Why do they hate the Beeb so much? I asked this before. But there's another clue in the recent announcement of BBC local video news, which will directly compete with the Daily Mail's companies running local newspapers.

Anyway, this is ITV, so the same questions aren't asked by the Mail, naturally enough. They carry on with the attacks, thanks to a helpful 'source':

A source close to the mother of four says: 'She was obviously the worse for wear and to appear like that on national television in the morning is absolutely horrendous. 'She's breaking all the rules at the moment. She's bankrupt and apparently not taking her medication for bipolar disorder.
'On top of that, she's not listening to anyone around her. Her handlers have been working night and day to try and repair her image but she's gone and thrown it all away by acting so erratically.'

Do we get compassion or sympathy in the comments? Well, a lot more than you might think, actually. But then there's this:

oh my god,, that interview was awful
i was so shocked at the way she was acting, she was slurring words, speaking fast at times i couldnt understand what she was saying.
my cousin has bi polar and has been really depressed and hospitalised many times,
,now she is stable and out hospital but i have never heard her speak slurred and blame medication,,
(while in hospital i had seen her sleepy due to lots of medication to calm her ) but not now that she is out of hospital, im sure the docs would be able to find kerry a tablet that doesnt make her sleepy and slurr etc
i think kerry is using the medication as an excuse to cover up for her vice.
- andrea, glasgow,, 22/10/2008 11:06

So essentially accusing her of taking illegal drugs, just someone at home assuming that with no evidence whatsoever. Isn't that libellous? Do the Mail give a shit? Or will they take the comment down later and say it's all been sorted out - the comment's been removed, so it never happened. But it's not the only such suggestion:

She was clearly under the influence of something, and it certainly wasn't meds.
- Pamela, Guildford, 22/10/2008 11:10

Thank you, Dr Pamela from Guildford.

It was very painful to watch. She certainly sounded intoxicated by something but as I am not a medical expert, I can't say whether her bipolar prescribed drugs have that effect. Maybe her PR man, Max Clifford can persuade her GP to put the record straight?
- Angela, Birmingham, UK, 22/10/2008 11:12

And it keeps going:

Dear God!!!! She was an absolute mess! It baffels me why she is given any work or publicity at all. Why does Iceland keep renewing her contract - she's hardly a role model especially for mothers! And the This Morning interview proved it. Yeah - maybe once upon a time she won Mother Of The Year but things have gone drastically downhill since then. I agree with the viewer in the article, it was like a car crash! It was cring worthy and just the kind of interview you know will be all over the papers tomorrow.
- GingerPixie, Bromley, 22/10/2008 11:12

Hang on, let's just assume for a moment that it is prescription meds she's taking - we have no reason to suppose otherwise, except for base prejudice. If she's got bipolar disorder, is it OK to point and laugh at her on the TV? Is that acceptable, or is that something that has no place in the civilised adult world? But as ever, Mail readers know best. I mean, I don't know if what I suppose is right, but I know it's supposition, and not fact. They may have no facts, but they're pretty sure they know better than anyone else:

Late arriving at the studio because of traffic? I don't think so. She looked and sounded as though she was as high as a kite. Her publicist should do the decent thing and keep her out of the public eye. Her re-launch has already failed.
- Christine Eastwood, Basildon, Essex, UK, 22/10/2008 11:13

Oh you don't think so, Christine. Well thank goodness for that.

Prescription drugs???? I don't think so.
I know plenty of people who are on the same meds as her and they do not slur, look around wildly or grind their teeth.
She should never have been allowed to go on TV like that.
- sparkyp, surrey, 22/10/2008 11:14

Yet more nudges and winks that she's taking more than prescription meds. Who knows? Drugs affect everyone differently. Some people have considered this:

She's on chlorapromazine for bi-polar disorder and with sleeping tablets too anyone would feel like a zombie. She may be annoying but leave off her on this one. I feel sorry for her for her right now
- Fasta, Liverpool, England, 22/10/2008 11:20

Some haven't:

Why, oh why, is this pathetic excuse for a woman being given airtime? Why do Iceland continue to employ her (I can't be the only one turned off of the Iceland brand now)? I've never seen her TV show, and my kids are banned from watching it too. Is this really what we've come to, when the likes of Kerry Katona are role models to our kids?
- Debra, London, 22/10/2008 11:42

Who's to say who's right? I can't see why Katona's behaviour would put you off going to Iceland, though: you go there because you need cheap frozen food, not because Kerry Katona says it's good, surely? That's why I go there, anyway. I couldn't give a shit if she's advertising it or not. Anyway, not everyone puts the boot into Katona and some question the editorial decisions - if she turned up late, for example, why not delay her appearance, or record it for another day? Don't pretend there wasn't a contingency. As this reader puts it:

I am absolutely disgusted by the exploitation of this woman, in allowing the interview to proceed. The Jeremy Kyle show has been criticised for its unsavoury content and 'shock factor' approach. I am absolutely appalled that a show with such a decent reputation such as This Morning should adopt the same sensationalist tactics.
It was absolutely painful to watch her sitting there struggling to speak while being grilled by the presenters. Then to view what was nothing short of a 'disclaimer' on their behalf as Philip confronted Kerry about the state she was in, contributing his confrontation to viewers complaints.
Im not a Kerry Katona fan but what I witnessed today was nothing short of a monstrous profiteering exercise at the hands of a huge publicity machine. Fern and Philip are not trained counsellors, Kerry was not sitting on a psychotherapists couch. Their 'concern' would have been better placed in cancelling the interview before it began
- Sinead Cooper, City of Derry, 22/10/2008 11:46

See, you write off Mail readers at your peril. Many of them are articulate and sensitive folk. They get a bit drowned out by the roaring numpties, but they're there.

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