Salut!

Endangered species: from decline at the Sunderland Echo to crisis in France

Image: NS Newsflash

Few people reading these pages will have seen the minor news item last week to the effect that the Sunderland Echo was transferring production to Sheffield, many miles down the A1 (M) with the loss of 81 jobs - including that of the editor, Rob Lawson, who may have jumped or been pushed but has gone anyway.

And fewer still will care.

Uggie's finest hour (100 minutes actually), ghostwriting for dogs, things called apps

*See link in footnote

I knew Wendy Holden when she was just a Daily Telegraph reporter though, come to think it, that was no bad thing to be (as I was reminded when asked out of the blue to write for it again last week). Wendy has gone on to become a bestselling author whose latest exploits include the memoirs, would you believe, of the canine co-star of the Oscar-winning silent film The Artist (or L'Artiste when I saw it in Hyères; without bragging I can say I understood every word). Here, I allow Wendy not only to tell how she became involved in a Hollywood shaggy dog story but also to plug shamelessly a journey into the world of apps ...

Are you now, or have you ever been, a journalist?

Image: Kate Ter Haar

Witch-hunts have long held a special place in the administration of justice.

From the Inquisition through to Uncle Joe Stalin to Senator Joseph McCarthy and onwards to the Taliban, the methods may change but the aim is fundamentally the same: to impose a single will by authoritarian means.