The 'fluent but insincere and shallow' Kelvin Mackenzie at the Leveson Inquiry


This particular sequence from former editor of The Sun Kelvin MacKenzie's evidence to the Leveson Inquiry is [was - see below] featured on the websites of both the BBC and Sky News today.

Are we supposed, I wonder, to be impressed by his brilliant 'analysis' of the difference between the verbs 'to lob' and 'to chuck'? And is anyone convinced that it aptly illustrates his point that "we thought about something and then put it in"?

I suppose it would be too much to expect him to tell us which 'online dictionery' he consulted to get his definition of the verb 'to lob', but it's an easy enough game for anyone to play.

So, having just looked up the word 'glib' in the Oxford online dictionary, I can report that the definition looks like a fairly accurate description of Mr MacKenzie (and his words):

glib
adjective
(of words or a speaker) fluent but insincere and shallow.

P.S. Since this was first posted earlier today, the clip has been removed from the Sky News website. But you can still watch it on the BBC website HERE and HERE.

In the absence of any explanation of why it was withdrawn, one can't help wondering whether this is a case of one Murdoch-owned media outlet (Sky News) retrospectively altering its news coverage to protect the former editor of another (The Sun) - in which case, it should perhaps be reported to the Leveson Inquiry forthwith.

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