So Mumsnet v The Daily Hate and all the rest...

[LadyBeagleEyes]

So many media people at the moment having a go at us.
It's really starting to piss me off now, and apart from a brief 'appearance' on R2 and a snarky email to the DM re Shona Surbary, MN doesn't seem to have any comeback.
I was particularly disappointed with Vanessa Feltz recently who jumped on the bandwagon, when the only threads about her have been enormously supportive.
So don't you think it's time that MNHQ should be coming out onto the media to defend the site?
Why is Justine never invited to the countless tv programmes where every other media woman seems to appear?
I'd love to see her arguing with Shona on This Morning or on the panel on The Wright Stuff, or would she feel that was dumbing down?
I'm just getting a bit pissed off with the vitriol around about this site, and MN just seem to be voiceless in their defence of it.

Yes, MN is being targeted.

But I think media retaliation would be bad publicity, and giving the DM what they want.

Much better to have a dignified silence, IMO

I know what you mean Lady, but I wouldn't want to see Justine appearing on This Morning or The Wright Stuff. Where would it end? Loose Women? Alan Titchmarsh?

I think keeping a low profile is a better way of dealing with it. Makes the DM et al seem even more bonkers.

I think keeping a low profile and going on 'defence' instead of 'attack' might work better, if people see us supposedly 'lashing out' at the critics then it will make it worse, I think. Responding cleverly, shortly and with as little fuss makes the DM and the like seem stupid.

Yes, the best defence is really calm ripostes from HQ, like Justine's email to the Mail, and us upping our game for newbies by being polite, funny and less navel-gazing.

But MN can gain from this as plenty of people will have a nosey and decide to stay.

Who cares if The Daily Mail, Express and Matthew Wright don't like us? Two shite papers and a TV programme nobody watches - meh.

I think Justine is fighting our corner beautifully.

She's not coming across as overly bothered by the criticism and why should she? She's co-founder of a massively successful website and is well aware the AH crap came on the back of a lot of MN posters complaining publicly about the Daily Mail's benefit bashing during the Mick Philpot case.

It's quite obvious that the DM dug up a year old thread and contacted AH who agreed to whine about it, because she has to promote the new series of BGT and they wanted to 'get back' at the MN posters.

It's all a storm in a minuscule thimble of tea and she did really well on the radio the other day and today too (re her email to someone whose name I can't remember but some journo anyway).

The likes of AH, Vanessa and the name I can't remember will always jump on passing bandwagons to get their name 'out there'.

We seem to be living in a promotional culture where some 'celebs' think any publicity is good publicity...but since the death of MT all this has been filed under 'petty pile of wank' in terms of 'news'.

If I were Justine, I would do nothing right now other than to point out the often vile, abusive, racist crap that the DM readers often post in the DM's comments section and then mention the words 'pot, kettle and black'.

I don't think the answer is for Justine to go onto trashy TV programs, left right and centre, and start justifying herself. It's not necessary.

Much better to sit back , reply in calm, measured tones where necessary and silently yawn and mentally flip the bird at the tediousness of it, safe in the knowledge that, very soon, some other poor woman (or group of women) will fail to live up to the Daily Maul's high expectations of womanhood and they will be targets, instead.

YY to everything Worra said. Justine has had a 'bit of a week' as my Mum would say, but she's done a great job handling it all.

Do we think it's all done now? Is there going to be any more yawnsome columns in the DM?

I suppose I think there's so much criticism from 'popular culture', and I don't think we're above trashy tv, i watch trashy tv and want to shout at them that 'we're not like that'.
The Wright Stuff has some half decent columnists sometimes, they've just had Jasmine Alibiah Brown (sp) for the last week, (Oh and yay for her re MT)
There's a few panel shows where a rep from MN would be the voice of reason, because apart from a few loons on here, I honestly think that MN is one of the few forums where the majority are very tolerant.
Though maybe that's why we're hated..

I'd say it's pretty libellous stuff, some of what I've read. If we are in the class of people it is offending, perhaps we are all being wronged in the tort of defamation. Perhaps we are also having our convention rights contravened?
The comments are getting more and more hatefilled and to be approved editorially is unacceptable. The again the rest of their articles (often inciting hate against a group) are unacceptable, as are the endless baffling braindead pieces on 'look at kim kardashian's skirt' and 'this skinny model has got 1lb heavier let's point and laugh at her fat' Nevertheless I mainly think yawn, not worthy of any brain space.

Could we give a shit about the Daily Mail's opinion? Honestly? (On any subject, really - not just MN).

I love MN!! I really do but I don't think there is much to be gained from defending it to people who really hate us it.

It is enough that we know the truth.

Well, there is a thread asking for good MN stories, so maybe they are about to release a statement?

But I do agree that a dignified silence is the way to go.