'The Spectator' arrives in Australia
October 8th 2008 06:10
Britain's venerable The Spectator, part intellectual magazine and part institution, has just launched an Australian edition, Spectator Australia.
The Spectator, which promotes itself as "champagne for the brain", has appointed Oscar Humphries as editor of the Aussie version, which will be "printed and partly written" in Australia.
Humphries, aged just 29, has Australian blood heavily camouflaged by a British accent of the frightfully proper kind. His job will to prepare 12 pages of Australian content for each issue.
It will be interesting to see what mix Humphries offers (or has been instructed to offer). In the UK, the 180-year-old magazine, owned by Conrad Black, is a powerful political voice and, while it tolerates some of its writers presenting left-wing viewpoints, editorially it is solidly to the right. The web page (link) offers the following overview of a piece in this week's UK edition, "Our current financial turmoil is not the fault of greedy bankers, says (writer) Dennis Sewell. In fact, the banks were bullied into lowering their lending standards by left-wing idealists intent on equal opportunities at any cost."
The heading is "Clinton Democrats are to blame for the credit crunch". Ah, well, at least they're not blaming Tony Blair. For a change.
Editorship of the magazine is a well-paved route into British politics, with three former editors having gone on to become Cabinet members, all Conservative Party of course.
Established contributing writers for The Spectator in the UK include Australian comic genius Barry Humphries, who has agreed to come out of retirement and pen a few pieces for Spectator Australia. One hopes he can meet the standards of Oscar Humphries, his new boss, and also his son.
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