Le Carre Calls It

On a bit of a John Le Carre jag at the moment. I'd forgotten what a searingly funny, unsparingly honest and seriously fine writer he can be. And astute. This prescient little gem jumped out of The Tailor of Panama - apply it to whatever you wish, be it Swine Flu, Jade Goody or the latest Premiership football rumour:

"Nothing is more predictable than the media's parroting of its own fictions and the terror of each competitor that it will be scooped by the others, whether or not the story is true because quite frankly dears, in the news game these days, we don't have the staff, time, interest, energy, literacy or minimal sense of responsibility to check our facts by any means except calling up whatever has been written by other hacks on the same subject and repeating it as gospel."

This was written in the mid-90s, before the internet ruled the world. I bet he's really mad now.