An heroic journalist died this week. Yes, you read that right: an heroic journalist. Once upon a time, such a thing was possible, as the career of the late Donald Woods demonstrated.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Mr Woods was the editor of a South African newspaper, the 'East London Daily Dispatch' - the London in question being one in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. He always opposed the racist apartheid regime in South Africa and, during his 12 years as editor of the 'Dispatch', he was involved in 37 lawsuits against the government or its supporters. He initiated 16 of the legal actions, and won every case. In 1975, he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for refusing to reveal the source of a story to the police, but remained free after a successful appeal.

Then, in the mid-1970s, he befriended a young anti-apartheid activist by the name of Steve Biko. In 1977, Biko was arrested by the South African police because of his political activities. Whilst in custody, Biko was beaten to death by the police. Incensed by the fate of his friend, Woods relentlessly investigated the killing. The book he wrote on the subject caused an international outcry, and prompted campaigning around the world to fight the institutionalised injustice in South Africa.

This earned Woods a 'banning order' from the South African government preventing him from working as a journalist in South Africa, and numerous unofficial death threats. Woods fled to Britain disguised as a priest. He claimed political asylum in Britain, in the days before the phrase 'asylum seeker' began to be misused as a term of abuse. Following a meeting with the then African National Congress leader Oliver Tambo, Woods began campaigning for sanctions against South Africa. In partnership with another former newspaper editor, David Astor, he founded the Lincoln Trust, which supported the campaign for sanctions and helped those exiled from South Africa to obtain university places in Britain and America.

The then US President Jimmy Carter invited Woods to the White House, and asked him:
'Mr Woods, what should we be doing about South Africa?'
He replied by saying that it would take him three hours to answer the question properly. Carter's response was to set up a meeting for that afternoon at which Woods had the chance to brief the State Department senior staff for three hours as to what, in his opinion, US policy towards South Africa should be.

Woods' name became better known to the general public in 1987 when his and Biko's story was told in Cry Freedom, the hugely successful film directed by Richard Attenborough, starring Kevin Kline as Woods and Denzel Washington as Biko. In 1999, the UK government awarded the former asylum seeker the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to human rights.

Donald Woods wasn't the only principled journalist with a claim to have helped change the course of 20th Century history. Another example that springs to mind is that of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the 'Washington Post' reporters whose investigation into the Watergate break-in helped to bring down President Richard Nixon. But such reporters are a rare breed; and even when they do exist, suitable outlets for their work can be hard to find, in an industry largely controlled by conservative businessmen far more interested in profits than in principles.

It seems rather poignant that Donald Woods should die just as h2g2 is having a Talking Point discussion on the question of 'Can you trust the news media?' - to which, not surprisingly, the overwhelming reply from Researchers has been: 'You must be joking!' If there were more reporters like Donald Woods around, then the answer might be different. But given the way media empires are run today, one can only wonder whether we shall ever see his like again.

Normally, I would never enjoy the spectacle of an elderly lady being savagely attacked, but I am willing to make an exception in the case of Margaret Thatcher. After all, during the Eighties, she and her government savagely attacked the rights and living standards of many people in certain areas of Britain, including the one I live in. If you lived in northern England, you'd hear Thatcher being bitterly attacked almost every day.

But this week's criticism of her has been different. This week, Thatcher has been getting attacked by her own party.

At one time, this would have been unthinkable. Thatcher was an icon to all on the right of British politics. To the Conservative Party, she was the prophet who led them to three consecutive General Election victories. True, they'd had to get rid of her in order to win a fourth term, but even so, she was revered.

When she was persuaded to step down by her fellow Tories in 1990, the immediate beneficiary was John Major. She endorsed him as her chosen successor as party leader, and Major duly won the leadership election, following it in 1992 with a surprise General Election victory.

But just listen to Major now:
'Margaret wasn't very helpful during the 1990 to 1997 period, particularly the 1992 to '97 period. I think she forgot some of the difficulties she left behind with the recession, with rising unemployment, with very high interest rates, and was not very helpful as we took the difficult measures in order to get it down. If you have young backbenchers in Parliament wondering whether they should rebel against the government they've been elected to support and they're encouraged to do so by the activities of the former Prime Minister whom they revere, then clearly it becomes much easier for them to rebel.'

This extraordinarily bitter outburst was prompted by Thatcher's endorsement of Iain Duncan Smith as her preferred candidate in the current Conservative leadership contest. Duncan Smith was one of those 'young backbenchers' who made Major's life a misery by consistently voting against his party in parliamentary debates, particularly those on the subject of Europe. As you might expect, Major is now firmly backing Duncan Smith's rival Kenneth Clarke in the leadership contest.

Mr Clarke himself reacted robustly when asked to comment on Thatcher's support for his opponent. He declared:
'My reaction is that nothing is more likely to turn away young voters from the Conservative Party than the idea that we are going for the kind of agenda that Mrs Thatcher seems determined to force on us now'.

There is some evidence to back up Clarke's claim. The modern Labour Party are nothing if not masters of marketing, and they, too, clearly believe that Thatcher is now a liability for her party. During the final days of this year's General Election campaign, they produced an election poster that depicted the then Tory leader William Hague with Thatcher's hair superimposed on his bald head. They, too, clearly believe that an association with Thatcher is the kiss of death.

As Conservative party members begin voting in the current leadership election, the question now is whether they share that view. If, in the words of the old song, they can't let Maggie go, then Duncan Smith will be their new leader. I suspect that IDS will indeed be their choice; and to many outside the party, that will confirm that the Tories would rather dream of an idealised past than confront the problems of the present.

Some interesting tales have emerged in a survey carried out by the Fish4Jobs recruitment website, which has been looking into acts of revenge taken by secretaries and PAs against bullying bosses.

The survey of office workers in London, Manchester and Glasgow, found out how one PA poured talcum powder into the air vents in her boss's car shortly before he was due to drive some important clients to a lunch meeting. Another took a pungent revenge while her boss was away. She injected milk into her boss's chair, then took up a portion of the carpet in his office and spread minced meat under it. When the boss returned, his office had to be steam cleaned to get rid of the smell. Several more secretaries admitted that when they washed their bosses' coffee mugs, they did so in toilet bowls.

The survey comes with a health warning attached. Occupational psychologist Dr Frank Bond has commented:
'Venting anger in this way only breeds more fury, which is not helpful to your mental health.'

Perhaps not - but as I know from bitter personal experience, neither is putting up with the sort of boss who doesn't seem to realise that slavery has been abolished. The message to bosses is clear: treat your staff decently, and then you can drink your coffee with confidence.

The English soccer season has got off to a great start - and I don't say that just because my beloved Bradford City are sitting proudly on top on the Nationwide League Division One after two games.

No, I say that also because we have also had surprise leaders in the Premiership: Bolton Wanderers, newly promoted from the Nationwide and hotly tipped for relegation before a ball had been kicked in anger in this campaign. An amazing 5-0 away win at Leicester propelled them to the summit on the opening day, and a win over Middlesbrough by the only goal kept them there. Meanwhile, Manchester United struggled to overcome Fulham 3-2, in the latter's first game following promotion. On Wednesday night, United failed to beat another newly-promoted team, Blackburn Rovers. They were held to a 2-2 draw despite Rovers being reduced to ten men when Craig Short was sent off.

I doubt if even the most ardent Bolton fan would seriously tip them for the title, but I hope that their success, and the evidence of the Manchester men's mortality, might set a pattern for a season with some surprises in it.

A big part of the whole point of sport is that it is - or should be - unpredictable. If one competitor always dominates, if you know who's going to win, then it's no fun. And that is why I fervently hope that someone - anyone - can prevent Manchester United from winning yet another Premiership title this season.

Oh well. That's probably made me a lot of enemies in London.

Ormondroyd

23.08.01. Front Page

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