CYCLE THIRTEEN
1. NEWSPAPERS. Compared to books, newspapers would seem to
be a Liberal equivalence which is therefore neither as right wing (and
hardback) nor as left wing (and softback) as the
above, but is nonetheless capable of a sort of left-of-centre and
right-of-centre distinction either side, so to speak, of a properly centrist
standing as newspapers. By which I of
course mean that in addition to the newspaper itself, there are often
specialist supplements and magazines - the former left-of-centre on account of
their newspaper-like softness and slenderness, the latter right-of-centre on
account of their greater bulk, which makes them if not comparatively 'hard'
then, at any rate, certainly less soft!
By and large, it would appear that the right-of-centre option tends to
predominate, in most newspapers, over the left-of-centre one, thereby
suggesting a right-wing bias to the majority of such publications.
2. BROADSHEETS AND
TABLOIDS. As in the case of books, it
would seem that newspapers are divisible between verbal and photographic
alternatives, viz. 'quality' broadsheets and 'popular' tabloids, and again, as
with books, it strikes me as being perfectly feasible to present this division
in terms of a sort of Commons/Lords dichotomy, with broadsheets and other
intellectually-biased newspapers equivalent to 'lower-chamber' Liberalism, and
tabloids equivalent, on account of the emotional implications of their
photographic bias, to 'upper-chamber' Liberalism, both of which, being
centrist, have to be distinguished from the Labour and Conservative equivalents
already discussed.
3. VERBAL/PHOTOGRAPHIC
SPECTRUMS. Although I took the view, in
Cycle 12, that there exists a parallel between, on the one hand, verbal books
and the Commons and, on the other hand, photographic books and the Lords, I should
add that subsequent reflection has induced me to modify what now seems like an
overly rigid categorization, principally by allowing, in relation to the
Commons, for some photographs where the more left-wing books (whether in softback or hardback) are concerned, so that one can proceed
from word-only books to word + some photographs on either side of the political
divide. After which the stage is set for
the Lords, as we proceed, within both Labour and
Conservative contexts, from books with a preponderating photographic content on
the Right to photographic books per se on the Left, these latter
as unequivocally emotional, and therefore 'fundamentalist', as it is possible
to be within the patriarchal confines of a purgatorial Netherworld. Hence the left wing of both the Labour and
Conservative peer groupings in the Lords could be construed as paralleling
photographic softbacks and hardbacks respectively.
4. ANALOGOUS
PARALLELS. Analogous phenomena to
newspapers/books, like pianos and rugby (as already discussed) are also divisible,
over and above a Commons/Lords dichotomy, into soft and hard options, as, for
example, in the case of the sustain and damper pedals on pianos, the former
making for a soft, or legato, impression and the latter, by contrast,
for a hard, or staccato, one.
Likewise in rugby, 'tries' are comparatively 'soft' and kicked goals
'hard', the one involving hands, the other (booted) feet. Whether, in that event, pianos and rugby are Liberal or either Labourite or Conservative, depending
on the ratio of 'soft' to 'hard' or vice versa, is a moot point. For one can obviously argue either way, with
moderate soft and hard options likely to suggest a Liberal equivalence, as when
both legato and staccato are utilized in the same piano
composition, but extreme soft or hard options likely to suggest Labour and
Conservative equivalents respectively, as when only legato in the one
case or staccato in the other is used in any given piano
composition. Doubtless the real
centrist, and therefore classical Liberal equivalence, would be in connection
with the avoidance of both the sustain and damper pedals, in contrast to the
left-of-centre recourse to moderate legato and the right-of-centre
recourse to moderate staccato. Similarly,
rugby would be centrist when no 'tries' or 'goals' had been scored, but
left-of-centre with some 'tries' and right-of-centre with some 'goals', neither
of which would qualify for either Labour or Conservative evaluations which, by
contrast, would imply a considerable preponderance of 'tries' on the one hand
and of 'goals' on the other hand, thus transcending the parallel with
newspapers (and their supplements/magazines) for parallels with softbacks and hardbacks instead.
