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San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Lynn Ludlow, award-winning journalist and S.F. State professor, dies at 91
Longtime San Francisco journalist Lynn Ludlow loved newspapers. He loved writing for them, editing them, composing editorials for them, and making them better. And he loved showing generations of college journalism students how to do the same. He was a historian of the Old West, a lover of opera, a basketball fanatic and a mandolin player. He was as good at plinking out a tune from his vintage Gibson mandolin as he was at coaxing eloquence from his vintage Royal typewriter. And he loved telling stories about newspapers. He loved telling stories about anything. Most of the stories were long stories. Ludlow died of cancer on July 28 in his Bernal Heights home, just days after playing old tunes with old friends in his backyard. He was 91. Ludlow was born on Nov. 5, 1933, on a sugar beet farm in the Bitterroot Valley near Corvallis, Mont. His family moved in 1942 to San Francisco, where he grew up in North Beach, later moving to Mill Valley. Among the many lessons he taught his five children was to pick up the bill whenever possible, never turn your back to the ocean, and never, ever cross a picket line. 'What a writer, storyteller, musician and human,' said former San Francisco Examiner reporter Carol Ness. 'He always gave a hand up to younger journalists, and he always had time for people.' 'He was an ink stainer to the very end, and a terrific wordsmith,' recalled former Examiner reporter Corrie Anders. 'Lynn was a truly great writer and a warm, fun guy,' said his friend and fellow Chronicle staff member Kevin Fagan, who began playing tunes with Ludlow in 1985. 'He's never been anything less than a gentleman and preeminently good human being.' Most of Ludlow's journalism work was for the old Examiner, where he was a reporter and editor for four decades. As a general assignment reporter, he could be asked to cover anything — the shootings, ribbon cuttings, heists and fires that make up the grist of a daily paper. But he drew his share of big stories — Ludlow accompanied the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on his historic 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., covered the Free Speech Movement at UC Berkeley and the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, and interviewed the Beatles before their final concert as a touring band, at Candlestick Park in 1966. In 1989, he reported on the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake, writing the lead story during a power failure, using a borrowed headlamp so he could read his notes. 'The temblor struck at 5:04 p.m.,' Ludlow wrote, 'before the third game of the dream Bay Area World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's. With about 30 seconds of jolting, lurching and a kind of hopping motion, the dream dissolved into irrelevance.' A pair of his investigations — a probe of shady real estate practices in the sale of near-worthless lots and a 1976 look at abuses by corporate Central Valley farms of legislation designed to help small farmers — led to changes in state law. Ludlow kept a framed copy of three bills passed by the Legislature, and signed by Gov. Ronald Reagan, that permanently ended boondocks lot-sales flimflams in California. 'To Lynn Ludlow, whose brilliant journalism made these laws a reality,' read an accompanying note signed by Assembly Speaker Leo McCarthy. His assignments took him far afield: to Saigon after the Tet Offensive, to Ireland following the death of Bobby Sands, to Mexico during an economic crisis, and to an ancient battlefield in the Jezreel Valley in the Middle East. The article began, 'Things are quiet here in Armageddon …' As a beat reporter, rewrite man, investigative reporter, editorial writer and opinion editor, he won awards from the San Francisco Press Club, Scripps-Howard, the Associated Press, Consumer Action, the National Wildlife Federation and the American Political Science Association, among others. His passion for the outdoors and for the workings of San Francisco infrastructure led to a memorable series where Ludlow and artist Don McCartney followed the path of a drop of water from above the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park down the Tuolumne River to an ordinary faucet in a San Francisco home. The reporting — which involved hiking, canoeing and helicoptering — examined the tangled history of Northern California water politics along with the grandeur of the droplet's path through the Sierra and the small towns and local lore along the way. He kept a jar of the Tuolumne River on his desk for the rest of his life. After the 2000 merger of the Examiner with the San Francisco Chronicle, Ludlow joined the Chronicle, writing editorials and editing opinion pieces. To the issues of the day, he brought his characteristic insight and common sense, qualities often in short supply. 'Lives and careers were made better by this wonderful journalist and friend,' said former Examiner reporter and editor Stephen Cook. 'Young newsies at the Ex were blessed to have Lynn as a mentor and model.' For decades, Ludlow taught writing and editing at San Francisco State University, where he had once edited the student paper as an undergrad. He brought the sensibility of a working reporter into the classroom, served as adviser to the Phoenix student newspaper and co-founded the regional press review Feed/back. He taught at Columbia University and Dominican University, and helped organize a minority intern program at the Examiner in the 1970s and '80s. He saw it as part of his duties to find jobs for promising students, many of whom became lifelong friends. 'I owe him a lot as a teacher, mentor and friend,' recalled ex-student Leonel Sanchez, a former reporter at the San Diego Union-Tribune. 'People throw around words like 'beloved,' but Lynn really was beloved at San Francisco State,' said his friend of 60 years, Chronicle reporter and columnist Carl Nolte, who taught alongside Ludlow. 'Lynn loved his students, and they loved him. He was a super mentor. Besides being a terrific reporter, he had a social conscience.' Even after he retired in 2003, Ludlow never stopped researching and writing. On his desktop are books written, books in progress and books planned. A small fraction of his work can be found on his Substack newsletter, True Yarns, Ltd. Ludlow's interests were many and wide-ranging. In his youth, he was a long-distance runner, competing in the annual Dipsea Race, one year finishing in seventh place. He wielded both a pick as a ditchdigger at Mount Tamalpais State Park and a surrogate kithara in experimental composer Harry Partch's Gate 5 Ensemble. He was fond of wordplay, arias in Italian, the annual San Francisco Carnaval parade, long days at Stinson Beach, and hiking on Mount Tam and Point Lobos. He enjoyed Mitchell's ice cream and almond torte from Dianda's Bakery in the Mission. He was a lifetime subscriber to the San Francisco Opera and a longtime member of the West Point Inn, and he never missed a Golden State Warriors game. He admired historic murals, good puns and manual typewriters. He kept a collection of the latter on display in the Bernal Heights home he shared with his wife, daughter, son-in-law and a large white dog named Lucy. The family home also accommodated Ludlow's library of more than 3,000 books. Ludlow was a founding member of the Flapjacks, a musical troupe of family and friends who played traditional songs that were older than he was. His daughter Kenny Ludlow and son-in-law Kevin Owens played guitar, his son Paul sang, and his wife Margo plunked along on an antique stand-up bass fiddle. Countless musician friends from all areas of his life were proud to call themselves Flapjacks. For decades, the Flapjacks were regulars beneath the evergreens at Camp Mather, the San Francisco family camp just outside Yosemite, leading lively sing-alongs that lasted right up to — and occasionally beyond — lights-out hour. Ludlow returned to Camp Mather nearly every summer since the mid-1960s with, at various times, his five children and six grandchildren. He was an accomplished pianist who didn't read music but could play a song by ear after hearing it once. He sang with passion, played with precision, and had a fondness for songs about desperadoes, drunks and derelicts. 'Frankie and Johnnie were sweethearts,' Ludlow would belt out at any opportunity, before continuing with a dozen more verses in his deep baritone, interspersed with inspired mandolin solos. Other favorite tunes involved the labor movement, the Irish rebellion, and standards of bluegrass and folk. For years, he sang his children to sleep with a gruesome ditty about the Titanic disaster. A big man with broad shoulders and a broad smile, Ludlow was not slowed by editors, college deans or more accomplished musicians. He was barely slowed by a devastating plunge as a child through a plate-glass store window, by two heart attacks (in 1991 and 1998), and by a stroke in 2007 that compromised his gait and his speech. Ludlow told the same stories and sang the same songs, more circumspectly. His father, John, was an editor, schoolteacher and piano instructor, and his mother, Melda, was an editor and poet. Upon graduation from Tamalpais High School, family finances prevented him from accepting an offer of admission to Harvard University. He was an Army veteran, serving as a clerk at Fort Ord in Monterey County ('I hated every minute,' he often said). He was a reporter for the Champaign-Urbana Courier in Illinois, the Marin Independent Journal and the San Jose Mercury News before joining the Examiner in 1963, when John F. Kennedy was president and a San Francisco cable car ride cost a quarter. It was at the Illinois paper that Ludlow conducted a singular interview with Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a personal hero to the young reporter. He recalled being so awestruck that he couldn't speak or even think. Posing a question was impossible, so she helped him out by asking her own questions and answering them while the tongue-tied Ludlow scribbled down her responses. Ludlow admired the sound of a bouncing basketball as much as a ballad. He was an imposing forward with a sweeping and occasionally successful hook shot. His love of basketball led him to the love of his life, fellow journalist and pickup basketball aficionado Margo Freistadt. The couple had been married for 36 years. Lynn and Margo loved to travel. In 2009, they loaded up their DIY camper van and took a three-month, 13,000-mile road trip, circling the country on a trip they called the Victory Lap. And for more than 20 years, he enjoyed camping at Anini Beach on Kauai. His beloved Gibson mandolin joined him on his journeys. For many years, the mandolin accompanied him on his signature tune, 'Old Bones.' 'I love life, and I'd do it again,' Ludlow would sing, with joy and not a hint of pathos. 'Though I might not be much more than I've been. But to have the chance to turn back the time and let my life begin … Oh yeah, I'd do it again.' Ludlow is survived by his wife, Margo; children, Chris Ludlow, Amy Grigsby, Llewellyn Ludlow, Kenny Ludlow and Paul Moran; grandchildren, Jenna, Lauren, Tucker, Cameron, Cade and Jackson; three great-grandchildren; brothers, Conrad and Roger Ludlow; a niece; and three nephews. A memorial celebration is planned for 3 p.m. Aug. 23 at the Polish Club of San Francisco, 3040 22nd St.
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Adoring Fans Remember Beloved Rock Icon on His Birthday: 'Miss You Every Single Day'
Adoring Fans Remember Beloved Rock Icon on His Birthday: 'Miss You Every Single Day' originally appeared on Parade. For Grateful Dead fans the world over, today is particularly meaningful. Not only was the late, great Jerry Garcia born on August 1, 1942 — but because his tragic death in 1995 took place on August 9, Deadheads have celebrated the iconic musician's birthday as the start of "Jerry Week" in the decades since. And this year's Jerry Week might be the most significant yet, as 2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead's start as one of the world's most beloved rock bands of all time. The legendary rock star's family marked the occasion on Instagram, sharing a photo of Garcia playing guitar onstage along with several sweet memories and exciting announcements for fans. "Happy Birthday, Jerry! Your presence is felt every single day," the caption read, continuing, "Our dad was a magical person whose light has only grown brighter with time. It's been fulfilling to see Jerry's life and music continue to inspire a new generation of fans; may they become freedom-loving artists in their own right." The post went on to remember Garcia as "everything San Francisco. From the tough street kid in the Excelsior, to the art school student in North Beach, to the freedom-loving Haight Street 'Captain Trips.' He was a lover of tech, science, and progressive ideas. This city was his home. Today, we are honored that San Francisco is naming a street after Jerry. We're proud that the city recognizes his contribution to the art and culture of this place he loved so much." Garcia's family also mentioned the annual free concert at Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park, adding, "and this weekend, remnants of the original band, which has become the most successful tribute band in history, will keep the flame lit, playing Jerry's music on the hallowed ground where thousands of heartbroken fans gathered 30 years ago for his memorial.""May the wound be healed by dancing feet, astral travels, and lots of hugs! Keep calm and Jerry on!" the post concluded. Fans in the comments were quick to share their love for Garcia, with one person writing, "No music touches my soul, heart, and being, the way Jerry and the Dead do. Thank you Jerry, thank you Dead Heads everywhere for sharing in this love and light!" "Jerry takes the edge off just enough to make life bearable," a second commenter admitted, with another adding, "Miss you every single day." "Happy Birthday Jerry! Feeling your presence in SF!" wrote someone else. As the San Francisco Examiner reported, Jerry Garcia Street (a one-block stretch of Harrington Street, where Garcia lived as a child), will be formally dedicated today, while Friends of Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, a volunteer group that schedules events at McLaren Park's stage, is hosting a day of musical performances on Saturday (the same day as the second of three Dead & Company shows in Golden Gate Park celebrating the Grateful Dead's 60th anniversary). Adoring Fans Remember Beloved Rock Icon on His Birthday: 'Miss You Every Single Day' first appeared on Parade on Aug 1, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared. Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
30-05-2025
- USA Today
A headless torso has been identified 44 years later. Police now seek woman's killer
A headless torso has been identified 44 years later. Police now seek woman's killer In 1981, railroad workers stumbled upon a headless torso in an empty field in San Jose, California. A pair of Christian medallions lay nearby. Show Caption Hide Caption Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper and DNA: New tech solving murders From Ted Bundy to Jack the Ripper, new DNA technology is solving murder mysteries, finding serial killers, and exonerating innocents. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY Nearly 44 years after two California railroad workers stumbled upon a headless torso in a field in San Jose, detectives have identified the victim as an Oakland grandmother. It was just before 10 a.m. on the morning of July 11, 1981, when the workers made their grisly discovery in an empty field, the San Francisco Examiner reported at the time. The site now harbors a commuter rail transit center and parking structure. The dismembered and decomposing torso, with multiple stab wounds to the chest and no legs or arms, was wrapped in plastic. Nearby lay a pair of Christian medallions, one featuring Saint Christopher and the other the Virgin Mary. 'Vivian Moss was her name,' said Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen in a news release May 27 announcing the development. 'My office knows it. I know it. Her family knows it. And now our community knows it.' The district attorney's cold case unit identified Moss through DNA using forensic genealogy and hope the information will help unveil her killer. Moss, a native of Arkansas, was a 54-year-old grandmother who may have worked at an elementary school in Oakland before her disappearance, the DA's office said. Family members told investigators that Moss was 'close' to preacher Louis H. Narcisse, the late founder of Oakland's Mt. Zion Spiritual Church and a renowned vocalist. How investigators identified Moss In 2023, the Santa Clara DA's office partnered with forensic genealogists at Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs, who suggested the remains were likely that of Vivian Moss. Cold case unit investigators in 2024 tracked down Moss' granddaughter, who recalled waiting as a young girl in the 1980s for her grandmother to pick her up for an overnight stay at her house. However, the woman said Moss failed to show, and she never saw her grandmother again. The DA's office concluded that the remains were those of Moss based on Parabon's testing comparing the granddaughter's DNA to evidence at the crime scene. Her case was featured in an October 2023 video showcasing the work of the DA's office cold case unit. 'One day soon, I hope we will know the depraved person who took her life and left her in a field, hoping she would be forgotten,' Rosen said. 'If her murderer is still alive, they will know that we don't forget in Santa Clara County.' A close association with preacher A photograph posted on social media by the American Museum of Paramusicology said the Mt. Zion preacher she was close with, Narcisse, was known for his collaborations with gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. According to Narcisse, whose congregants called him "His Grace," wore robes and a crown and carried a staff. He launched churches nationwide and hosted a syndicated Sunday radio show. A profile by British music writer Opal Louis Nations describes Narcisse, who died in 1989, as enthralled with the British monarchy, a man thought by some to work miracles as he spread the gospel in his parish. However, Nations wrote, "others saw him as a devil, con artist and clever snake-oil salesman" with "a darker, exploitative side" who "bled his parishioners dry." The church no longer operates and last posted on social media in November 2023.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
One Market Restaurant to close after 32 Years in San Francisco
The Brief One Market Restaurant will close on June 11 after 32 years in downtown San Francisco The decision follows post-pandemic challenges, decreased foot traffic, and the owner's retirement plans. SAN FRANCISCO - One of San Francisco's most enduring restaurants, One Market, is closing next month after 32 years at the foot of Market Street. Known for its contemporary American cuisine, the restaurant was a longtime go-to for business lunches, dinners, and celebrations in the city's Financial District. On its front door now hangs a sign: "Thank you, San Francisco: After 32 years anchoring the foot of Market Street in San Francisco, One Market Restaurant will be reaching retirement on June 11, 2025. Until then, it's lunch, dinner, all-day happy hour, and private events Monday through Friday… Thank you for your friendship and patronage for more than 3,000,000 meals, and smiles, over the years. We may be moving on, but we truly are leaving our hearts in San Francisco." A letter was also sent to guests. Michael Dellar co-founded the contemporary American restaurant in 1993 - the same year it was named Best New Restaurant by the San Francisco Examiner. It later earned a Michelin star from 2008 to 2012. The decision to close came down to a mix of personal and business factors for Dellar. The restaurant once boasted up to 1,000 covers a day across breakfast, lunch, and dinner in its early years. Before the pandemic, it averaged a few hundred. Today, it serves just under 100 guests daily - not including private event bookings. "Those five years since the pandemic have been very different," said Dellar. "As we know, people didn't come back, work schedules changed, tenants moved away, and the robust nature that was the Financial District pre-COVID is different now. Is it going to come back? It probably will. But I looked at being 80 soon." Dellar said his planned retirement played a role and efforts to sell the restaurant didn't work out. He announced the closure to staff recently. "I was choked up, as I knew I would be," he said. "But I feel that this is a great opportunity for the next iteration of what this wonderful space is." Jay Lyon, a longtime customer, said the closure will leave a personal impact. "It will be a loss... I will regret this and think about dishes that I enjoyed and people that I've befriended," Lyon said. Kevin Barry recalled scoring a coveted table the year One Market opened - on a very memorable night. "It was my wife and my first date," Barry said. "We sat in the window right over there, it was amazing. I lived in the Marina and my neighbor was the manager, so I called her up and I said I need dinner reservations. It was a hot ticket then." Others noted the broader changes in the neighborhood over the past few years. "It's not the same for sure, definitely after - you know, I was born and raised here," said Norma Deleon of Vallejo. "So I get to see the difference from back in the day until now. I know it's sad because a lot of businesses had to leave." One Market will remain open through June 11. Dellar said the restaurant has seen a significant uptick in reservations since announcing its closure.
Irish Examiner
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Book review: A forensic examination of the gutter press's race to the bottom
Citizen Kane (1941) is often described as the most influential movie ever made. The main character, Charles Foster Kane, is loosely based on American media mogul, William Randolph Hearst, who developed the largest newspaper chain and media company in the United States, Hearst Communications. Hearst began his career in 1887, aged 24, taking over the San Francisco Examiner from his father, George, who struggled to make it profitable. By 1890, the paper's circulation had tripled. 'The young Hearst demonstrated an extraordinary insight concerning journalism of the future,' writes English journalist, author, and academic, Terry Kirby, in The Newsmongers: A History of Tabloid Journalism. The book is a thoroughly researched, well-crafted history of tabloid journalism from the 16th century right through to the clickbait journalism of today. The real star of Kirby's book, though, is Alfred Harmsworth who became a newspaper man in 1894, when he bought the near bankrupt London Evening News. Within a year, it was the world's biggest selling evening newspaper. Harmsworth dominated the newspaper business in early 20th century Britain — he founded the Daily Mirror in 1903 and bought The Times in 1908. He died as Lord Northcliffe, aged 57, in August 1922. His media empire was passed onto his younger brother, Harold, then known as Lord Rothermere. During the inter-war years, his papers championed Mussolini and Hitler. Closer to home, Rothermere backed the British Union of Fascists, and their thuggish street gang associates, the Blackshirts. In the summer of 1939, just before Nazi Germany invaded Poland, Rothermere wrote a letter to Hitler praising his 'superhuman work'. An omen? The British tabloid press in the post-war period was dominated by outsiders. Robert Maxwell rose from poverty in Czechoslovakia, to become an academic publishing magnate, and a UK Labour Party MP. A crude egomaniac, Maxwell acquired the Daily Mirror in 1984 but his life ended in disgrace. The body of the millionaire publisher was found in early November 1991 off the coast of Tenerife. Maxwell was said to have fallen off the back of the yacht, Lady Ghislaine. He named it after his favourite daughter, who later became a criminal accomplice to serial sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Prior to his death, Robert Maxwell had defaulted on $2bn worth of loans and subsequently raided millions of pounds from his company's retirement fund, even stealing from his own staff's pensions and shares in Britain's Mirror Group. Robert Maxwell acquired the Daily Mirror in 1984 but his life ended in disgrace. File photo Rupert Murdoch, by contrast, was — and still is — a shrewd operator. He arrived in Britain, in late October 1968, aged 37. He was then already owner of a growing media empire in Australia that was started by his father. When Keith Murdoch became editor of the Melbourne Herald in January 1921, Lord Northcliffe (who was a good friend) sent him advice on how to make a newspaper profitable. Later that year, Northcliffe sent Murdoch £5,000 (£300,000 in today's money) to help him purchase the Sydney Morning Herald. By the mid-1980s, Murdoch owned The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times and the News of the World. That decade, as market competition increased, the British tabloid press gradually evolved into the gutter press. Kirby examines this topic with forensic analysis. The emergence of HIV/Aids during the early 1980s, which devastated gay communities across the world, prompted little sympathy from the British tabloids. Typically, they sneered and mocked homosexuality. When EastEnders broadcasted the first ever gay kiss in a British soap in 1989, The Sun published a front-page story titled 'Eastbenders'. The article was written by Piers Morgan, then a young reporter for the paper, who wrote a regular column, The Poofs of Pop, where he speculated on whether various male pop stars were gay. There were numerous complaints made to Britain's Press Council over these stories, which the Sun's then-editor, Kelvin MacKenzie rejected. But Rupert Murdoch 'seemed unconcerned', as Kirby puts it. Rupert Murdoch 'seemed unconcerned' by Piers Morgan's regular column in The Sun, The Poofs of Pop, where he speculated on whether various male pop stars were gay. File photo: Arthur Edwards/PA/News International (NI Group Ltd) By July 2011, however, Murdoch had much to be concerned about. In fact, he voluntarily closed down his paper, the News of the World — after evidence emerged that a private investigator working there, Glenn Mulcaire, had hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl, Milly Fowler. Journalists at the paper regularly used Mulcaire as a reliable source for stories they printed. The scandal led to then-British prime minister, David Cameron, to launch the Leveson inquiry, which began that year. It was supposed to bring back credibility and accountability to a press culture that was poisoned by years of criminal and unethical behaviour. In practice, after Leveson, the British media grew even more aggressive. In April 2015, Katie Hopkins published an article in The Sun claiming that all migrants coming to Britain by boat are 'cockroaches'. The new press watchdog, ipso, set up after Leveson, accepted the paper's defence that as an opinion piece, it was fair game. In November 2016, the Daily Mail ran a headline describing 'Enemies of the People'. The story, written by the paper's political editor, James Slack, claimed several High Court judges were risking a constitutional crisis. Actually, the judges were merely pointing out that Brexit needed to be passed in the House of Commons to become legally binding. Slack later went to work as a press officer for British prime minister, Theresa May. It's a route many prominent members of the British press have made. Take Andy Coulson, for instance. He was editor of the News of the World from 2003 to 2007. He stepped down after being given the director of communications job for the Conservative Party, staying in that role until January 2011. In July 2014, Coulson was jailed for 18 months for plotting to hack phones while he was editor of the News of the World. In October 2013, evidence emerged in London's Old Bailey that Coulson, while working at the News of the World, had a secret six-year affair with a fellow editor, Rebekah Brooks, while they both plotted to hack phones at the paper. Between 2003 and 2009, Brooks was editor of The Sun. Kirby cites a text message Brooks sent to David Cameron (then leader of the opposition) on October 7, 2009, on the eve of his Tory conference speech. 'I am so rooting for you tomorrow not just as a proud friend but because professionally we're definitely in this together! Speech of your life? Yes he Cam,' wrote Brooks. 'That last phrase was the Sun's headline the day after the speech,' Kirby explains. He argues convincingly that the line between the third and fourth estate has gradually eroded in Britain over the last few decades — where a motley crew of hacks, editors, press barons, and members of parliament, including several prime ministers, have all become a little too chummy for comfort. Kirby gives the last word to Britain's Prince Harry, the duke of Sussex. Last December, he was awarded £146,000 following a successful legal fight against The Mirror's publisher at the High Court in London, who ruled that he had been the victim of information gathering, including phone-hacking. 'Our country is judged globally by the state of our press and our government — both of which I believe are at rock bottom,' the duke of Sussex told the court in a witness statement that day. 'Democracy fails when your press fails to scrutinise and hold the government accountable, and instead choose to get into bed with them so they can ensure the status quo.' A British royal giving a lecture about democratic values? It's a bit rich. But he certainly has a point.
