How influential is Private Eye magazine?

[Globalti]

I did ask this question a few years ago either here or on STW but the replies were generally dismissive. However I believe that magazine wields a lot more subtle power than people realise; It receives information from people in public posts and I think a small note published in Private Eye can be the death-knell for a corrupt or incompetent council leader or politician or business person. .

Wikipedia says:

"A financial column, "In the City", written by Michael Gillard, has generated a wide city and business readership as a large number of financial scandals and unethical business practices and personalities were first exposed there."

It has a circulation of 228,000 and I'd love to know who reads it. I subscribe because I think it's worth supporting, even if I seldom read it cover-to-cover.

Any thoughts?

 

[Dec66]

I used to subscribe. I stopped in the end because it didn't seem to matter what they unearthed, little was ever accomplished as a result.

It made me depressed.

 

[Globalti]

If the magazine just sows one small seed of doubt in somebody's mind every fortnight and that leads to questions and an inquiry, I'm happy. The time lag must be long as an inquiry gathers momentum.

 

[swee'pea99]

They are HM Whistleblowers to The Establishment; they are respected (and feared); and they do an invaluable job. Even if Hislop does appear to be a smug little prick.

 

[swee'pea99]

Oh, and they are a good source of pocket money for borderline-bonkers cartoonists, whose work they will publish when nobody else would. A pair of oriental-looking chaps at mealtime over a small table, one of them going for it with the ketchup bottle, t'other saying: "You spoil that dog."

 

[accountantpete]

The serious bits (circa 1970-1990) never really accomplished anything but it was juicy tittle tattle.

I used to buy it for the front page and The Cloggies - and when they went it was easy enough to browse the front page for free - which I still do from time to time.

 

[Ian H]

The serious bits (circa 1970-1990) never really accomplished anything but it was juicy tittle tattle.

I used to buy it for the front page and The Cloggies - and when they went it was easy enough to browse the front page for free - which I still do from time to time.

<Cartoon pictured here>

There's one of those things where the world has moved on and it really should be left to quietly wither and die.

 

[captain nemo1701]

A friend of mine took a management job at the BBC in the 70's running a whole department and his colleagues bet him how long it would be before he got mentioned in Private Eye. He said it was about six weeks later and he has the clipping from the article framed on his wall at home now.