“There are two things in the world you never want to let people see how you make – laws and sausages.”

Leo McGarry, The West Wing

A couple of big stories last week made me think we should add ‘news’ to that list. First up from Isabel Oakeshott’s leak of the Matt Hancock WhatsApp messages, an exchange between the former Health Secretary and George Osborne, then editor of the Standard:
Secondly, Rupert Murdoch’s jaw-dropping deposition to a voting systems lawsuit. Firstly he admitted knowing Fox News hosts spread lies about the 2020 presidential election being stolen from Donald Trump. He then confessed he allowed them to keep on doing so on air to millions of viewers. (Detail here)

As the Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson puts it, “They admittedly engaged in fraud and lied to their audience.”

Perhaps neither of these two stories surprise you in the least. Maybe you’re reading this and thinking, “And?…”

Fair enough. But while I’m happy to live in ignorance about sausages, when it comes to laws and the news, it doesn’t hurt to peel the lid off occasionally.