Facilitating exchange and mutual critique between the world's people (actual three-dimensional people)

One would hope that the senior figure in church founded on murky compromise, cups of tea and, erm, Henry VIII's sex life would be a patient, forgiving soul. If so, Dr Rowan Williams must have read The Times report of his speech on the media with a more-in-sorrow-than anger sigh.

In a superb vindication of the Murdoch world, his plea for a more “more realistic, less fevered" approach was misrepresented somewhat in the hunt for a good headline.

And so it came to pass that Harry's Place waxeth wrath, verily until the Gruaniad's online edition of the speech came unto them. At which there was great tut-tutting and wringing of hands as the liberal media basketh in their own virtue as do the dolphins in a new age voyage of self discovery.


The Times's timing was even better in that it came in the week when Dominic Lawson finally got the boot from the Sunday Torygraph - the same rag which announced that the tsunami had caused the archbish to question his faith. Of course, he had done no such thing.

In many ways the archbishop seems like a good egg, but he really has only himself to blame when he makes pronouncements - his argument is basically the media needs to be careful not to get too full of its self-importance and try to be as accurate and fair as possible - which make certain blogs seem like models of clarity and brevity. "Unpoliced conversation" was an unfortunate phrase; "they are designed to speak to God and to each other and to give names to the things of the world around them. They are who they are in and through how they communicate" is classical academic jargon.

The header here is taken from his speech. It's what I should be doing on this blog were I a good Anglican. Which I'm not.