Auto Trader ie. UK Guardian

There is no independence in news land, none.

For instance, Guardian journalists will only be hired and published if they write stories that fit their editor's angle on the news.

And the editors and managers at the Guardian hire journalists like - Dipanzer - what was his name again? despite the fact that he belonged to an Islamofascist organisation because he wrote stories that fit their agenda. It took a blogger - Daily Ablution - to out Dippy, and make it a high enough profile story that the Guardian was forced to fire him.

This is something to celebrate as one of the high points of the year.

The Guardian's editor is appointed by the Scott Trust - a separate organisation to the Guardian Media Group and unique in British business. The Scott Trust was originally set up as a tax dodge in the nineteen thirties. It's ended up being an organisation that has two conflicting objectives - to allow the "national papers" ie. the Guardian and Observer to 'maintain editorial independence' yet also turn a profit.

The Guardian's editor knows why the Scott Trust board appointed him. They have an interest in making sure their particular political viewpoint is represented in the media. They don't have to worry unduly about profits - and the Guardian's editor doesn't either - that's the job of the Guardian Media Group board.

The Guardian Media Group took on a considerable financial burden when it borrowed half a billion pounds in October 2003 to buy the eyewateringly profitable Auto Trader and the other magazines of that ilk in the Trader group.

This was done in order to allow the Guardian newspaper to continue to publish biased news while running at a loss. Which it does, down something like nineteen million pounds last year. Add to that the eighty million pounds spent on the new format, and expenditure on the Guardian decimates the profits made by the Trader group for the year.

Who is the target audience though? Who reads the Guardian these days? Will the circulation increase because of the beautiful full colour pages? It was down 5% last year.

The style of Auto Trader is rough as can be. And profitable! The group is valued at over a billion pounds because of their profitablity. They contributed £116 million in profits. However, that added to the losses from the other divisions made total Guardian Media Group profits £ 23 million. You don't have to have a calculator to hand to see that Auto Trader's profits are going elsewhere.

The Guardian won't increase circulation with cosmetic changes but the format changes will allow them to obfuscate their figures to shareholders and continue at a loss for years.

No one who buys the Guardian will read this, I know that. But vulnerable young people read the Guardian thinking it's honest and objective and I hate that.

And hate drives change.

I want it to be universally acknowledged that the Scott Trust appoints the editor for reasons over and above his ability to put out a publication that can support itself from cover price plus advertising.

That's all.