Partisan advice shames the paper and signals its decline from serious journalism

Above: Telegraph proprietors David and Frederick Barclay

 

The Telegraph is telling readers to sign up and vote for Jeremy Corbyn in order to ‘destroy the Labour party’.

Today’s online story is headed:

How you can help Jeremy Corbyn win – and destroy the Labour Party

Sign up today to make sure the bearded socialist voter-repellent becomes the next Labour leader – and dooms the party forever

‘Destroy the Labour party’ – is this journalism, or activism?

The paper then provides a step-by-step guide on how to register and vote in Labour’s leadership election.

(Note: Labour say their system cannot actually be exploited this way.)

The Telegraph has form with open and explicit interventions in electoral politics. On the eve of the general election this year, the paper’s editor emailed its subscribers urging them to vote Conservative.

Today’s story continues:

“…some people joke about voting for Mr Corbyn, hoping to saddle Labour with a bearded voter-repellent as a leader.

Thanks to Labour’s new leadership rules, it doesn’t have to be a joke. Anyone can vote in the Labour leadership election. So if you’d like to help Mr Corbyn deliver democratic socialism for all condemn Labour to years in the political wilderness, simply follow our handy five-step guide.”

This is the sort of flippancy and underhand behaviour you would expect from the Sun. 

Instead it shames the paper, and degrades the journalists involved.

Today’s ‘story’ is the latest symptom of the Telegraph’s feckless decline from serious newspaper to clickbait prostitute for HSBC and China.

Adam Barnett is a staff writer at Left Foot Forward. Follow MediaWatch on Twitter

Read more: 

Tory press reads like ‘The Adventures of David Cameron (and friends)’

Telegraph reads Harriet Harman’s mind in claim she ‘knifed’ Andy Burnham

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