Another aspect of politicians' vanity vis-a-vis the press: it makes a vast difference whether you are reading something disagreeable at approximately the same time that others are doing so, too. If, after, say, a month's absence abroad, your attention is drawn to an old attack, its effect is small. You know that nobody else is reading it at the same time. It is over. It has no more vitality than a few curled leaves in a gutter. But read on or close to the day of publication, it has an infinitely greater capacity to depress. Press criticism is moreeffective in causing private pain in politicians than in influencing public perception of them. This does not mean that is should not be made. What it does mean is that kind friends should refrain from drawing the attention of the subject to disagreeable articles which he has been lucky enough to miss. There is nothing to be done about them, and therefore no point.

cjr  |  archive  |  resources  |  contact  |  search  |  subscribe