Tony Blair calls the press a “feral beast”:
LONDON, June 12 — In the land that produced “Scoop,” Evelyn Waugh’s novel of journalistic ambition and ineptitude, it would seem unsurprising for politicians to criticize reporters on occasion. But was it justified, as Prime Minister Tony Blair did today, to call the press a “feral beast”?
In seemingly full-throated roar, Mr. Blair used one of his last speeches in office before he is to step down in 15 days to settle scores with a press corps that he said has hounded, badgered, blustered and bludgeoned the nation’s leaders since he came to power 10 years ago.
“The fear of missing out means today’s media, more than ever before, hunts in a pack,” Mr. Blair declared. “In these modes it is like a feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits. But no one dares miss out.”