The media column: Journalists can't afford to sit in judgement on proprietors

So few good films have been made about newspapers; but now there is a chance for one. The confrontation between Rosie Boycott and Richard Desmond, detailed in Ms Boycott's newly published diary and related interviews, has great dramatic possibilities. The sensitive feminist up against the foul-mouthed pornographer. Why, there are even cameo parts for David and Victoria Beckham, who, Ms Boycott reminds us, were taken to Desmond's penthouse office, where he remarked: "Fuckin' hell, I own The Express. And David, you're the best footballer in England. Fucking brilliant. Victoria, you're the most famous pop star in England. Fucking brilliant."

Actually, for the first time, I am prepared to salute Richard Desmond. His subtle use of "most famous" instead of "best" to Victoria Beckham showed a diplomacy for which he is not generally credited. But, back to the film. I see Susan Sarandon as Boycott and Bob Hoskins as Desmond. We should not forget Lord Hollick, who sold Express Newspapers to Desmond. His would not have to be a speaking part as Rosie Boycott confirms that he didn't say much, if anything, to justify his action.

Some fun has been had in other newspapers at Boycott's expense, pointing out that despite her declaration now that she could not work for a pornographer, she waited for a sizeable pay-off before leaving the pornographer's employ. There's something in that; but I tend to think that we should all be a bit more wary before chiding other journalists about the foibles of their proprietors.

If Boycott, as a founder of Spare Rib, should not have worked for a pornographer, what about other feminists employed now at Express Newspapers? What, indeed, about liberal, intelligent and civilised men? I have interviewed all three editors in the group, and have found them to be just that.

And who decides the definition of pornography? Mr Desmond's exploitative magazines are, without doubt, pornography. But, to my mind, Page 3 girls are pornography, too, portraying women as sexually available and willing, and giving a lousy daily education in gender stereotyping to young women and men.

What do liberal, erudite journalists such as Simon Jenkins and Mary Ann Sieghart think about their proprietor, Rupert Murdoch, in this regard? Have they considered leaving as a matter of principle? I can't recall them saying.

Come to that, should journalists of principle work for Lord Hollick, who sold the Express papers to a pornographer? These matters of principle are more complicated than they might at first seem.

Some of us are lucky to have largely humane proprietors; some are not. Others kid themselves. The cover of the supposedly ultra-liberal Scott Trust, which owns The Guardian and The Observer, was blown by former Observer editors Jonathan Fenby and Andrew Jaspan, who have both commented on the brutality with which they were sacked.

All proprietors have their foibles; but the consensus seems to be growing that publishing pornography is a foible too far. Where, though, does that leave the journalists on Express Newspapers? It leaves most of them exactly where they are. Reporters and subs with mortgages and school fees have no option. "Have you no morals, man?" asked Professor Henry Higgins of the dustman, Alfred Dolittle, in My Fair Lady. "Can't afford 'em, guvnor," he replied.

The majority of journalists can't afford to sit in judgement on their proprietors. It's enough to concentrate on the readers and one's own work. And while it doesn't make for comfortable dinner parties, there's nothing inherently wrong in that. There's a fashion, too, in what constitutes the worst proprietorial sins. Right now, it is publishing filthy magazines. A few years ago, it was trying to block a book in order to suck up to the Chinese government.

I'd put hard-core pornography pretty high on my list of reasons to leave a newspaper. If I had founded Spare Rib, I'd have to put it higher still. But those who jeer at Rosie Boycott, and at those currently working at Express Newspapers, should remember that principles can't be chosen at random. Once you've decided to change jobs over proprietorial misdemeanours, you could be in for a lot of job-hopping.

d.lister@independent.co.uk