Dan Hodges sent the tw*t-o-meter nuclear on Question Time

Dan Hodges on Question Time
Steve Topple


A Mail on Sunday columnist was talking about racism in the UK media on BBC Question Time. Predictably, when it came to his own newspaper, he denied ever seeing any. Please pick your jaw up off the floor and continue reading.

Cuckoo on Question Time

Dan Hodges is a controversial figure. He had a  left-wing upbringing, being the son of former Labour MP Glenda Jackson. But Hodges writes a weekly column for the Mail on Sunday. The Canary‘s Kerry-Anne Mendoza wrote in 2018 that:

Hodges used to describe himself as the “Blairite cuckoo in the Labour nest”

She added:

By the 2017 general election, he was writing for The Mail on Sunday and finally switched his vote to Conservative.

His political predictions are legendary. Who knew one man could be so wrong, so consistently? He confidently predicted the victories of both David Miliband and Hillary Clinton.

On Thursday 11 March, Hodges was back making confident statements of fact. This time, it was about racism in the UK establishment corporate media.

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Nothing to see here

The situation has been in the spotlight recently. As The Canary previously reported, prince Harry accused the UK press of “racism”. It was in the context of coverage of his wife Meghan Markle This led to a backlash from the media establishment. The now ex-boss of industry body the Society of Editors claimed the UK media doesn’t have a racism problem. He then quit following a backlash from members of his own organisation.

So, on Question Time Hodges seemed to agree that the UK media has a problem. He said:

Let’s be absolutely clear about this. There is racism in the British media.

But then host Fiona Bruce asked if there was racism at the Mail On Sunday. Suddenly, Hodges took a different tone. He said:

Look, I’ll be honest with you. I can’t say that I’ve experienced or seen any racism at my own newspaper.

He also denied that the coverage of Markle had been racist.

Oh, Dan. Let’s help you out a bit here.

Just some of the evidence

In 2003, people were accusing the Mail on Sunday of xenophobia. Just last December it was inciting hate against German people. A Mail on Sunday article about Marcus Rashford was described as. It lost a defamation case against a man of Pakistani heritage. And with Markle, the paper has also been accused of racism. For example, compare and contrast the same stories on the duchess of Cambridge and her. They appeared in the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday:

Kate Meghan Mail

And it’s front pages are often tinged with racism and xenophobia:

Not to mention transphobia and trash about social security claimants:

Oh, and some casual homophobia too:

Mail on Sunday HL

Of course, the Daily Mail and Mail Online are just as bad. But yet, Hodges was still claiming after Question Time that there’s ‘nothing to see here’.

White cishet mansplaining, Hodges-style

He was basically saying that the Mail on Sunday wasn’t racist. And that while people think the Daily Mail and Mail Online might be, that’s nothing to do with him:

Hodges does, of course, ultimately work for DMG Media; a subsidiary of Associated Newspapers – which owns all three outlets. But hey! If a white, straight, male, middle-class and privileged member of the establishment corporate media says the Mail on Sunday isn’t racist – what do the rest of us know?

Featured image via BBC iPlayer 

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  • Show Comments

    1. He states he has not ‘experienced nor seen’ racism at the paper. As far as that comment goes, it may in fact be true. When DO white men experience or see racism? And whilst the side by side comments do indeed prove the racist attitude of the paper to Meghan they will always try to rely on the fact that her ‘race’ is never mentioned as a factor.

      This is the ‘hidden’ racism of which I’ve heard people speak. If you are a member of any minority you will have fallen victim to it throughout your life whether it being finding it harder to get through mortgage applications, get replies from jobs etc. You don’t see it but it’s always there.

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