Richard Littlejohn

Infobox journalist
name = Richard Littlejohn


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birth_name = Richard William Littlejohn
birth_date = birth date and age|1954|01|18
birth_place = Ilford, London
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family =
spouse = Wendy Bosworth (1974 - present)
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children = 2 children
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credits = "Daily Mail"
"The Sun"
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Richard William Littlejohn (born 18 January 1954 in Ilford, London) is an award-winning British right-wing journalist, broadcaster, and author of three books. His twice-weekly columns in the "Daily Mail" and "The Sun" earned him a place in the inaugural 'Newspaper Hall of Fame' as one of the most influential journalists of the past 40 years. He has been named Fleet Street's Columnist of the Year, Irritant of the Year by the BBC's "What The Papers Say" awards and "The stupid person's Jeremy Clarkson" by "The Guardian" [John Crace [http://books.guardian.co.uk/digestedread/story/0,,2079840,00.html "Littlejohn's Britain by Richard Littlejohn"] "The Guardian" 15 May 2007, retrieved 23 October 2007] . He has also written for London's "Evening Standard", "Punch" and "The Spectator".

His radio and television programmes have won a Sony award and a Silver Rose of Montreux.

Career

Although primarily a newspaper journalist, Littlejohn has presented numerous radio and TV shows, and has authored or co-authored several books.

Journalism

Littlejohn was born in the East End of London in January 1954 and his family moved to Peterborough when he was five. His father was an engineer for British Rail. Littlejohn passed the Eleven-plus but turned down a scholarship at a minor public school on the grounds that they didn't play football. Instead, he attended Deacons Grammar School between 1965 and 1970. He left at 16 to work as a trainee journalist in Peterborough. He worked for local newspapers during the early 1970s. In the mid-1970s, he joined the Birmingham "Evening Mail", becoming industrial editor in 1977.

He worked at the London "Evening Standard" from 1979 to 1989, initially as industrial editor, later a feature writer and (in 1988) a columnist. While industrial editor in the early 1980s he was asked to stand as a Labour Party candidate, which he declined. [ [http://www.davidrowan.com/2003/01/times-interview-richard-littlejohn.html David Rowan: The Times: Interview - Richard Littlejohn, Sky/The Sun ] ] In 1989 he joined "The Sun", becoming its most popular columnist. His columns attracted controversy, and he was voted "Irritant of the Year" at the 1993 "What The Papers Say Awards".

In 1994, he left "The Sun" to write for the "Daily Mail", contributing columns on news and current affairs (in a similar format to his "Sun" column), and one on sport. His "Mail" columns earned him the title "Columnist of the Year" at the 1997 British Press Awards.

In early 1998, Littlejohn became the UK's best-paid columnist when he returned to "The Sun" to write a twice-weekly column as part of a £800,000-a-year deal which also saw him present a regular TV programme, "Littlejohn: Live And Unleashed", on Sky One. It was subsequently cancelled due to poor ratings.

In May 2005, he re-joined the "Mail", a move he claimed was "always his intention". "Mail" editor Paul Dacre praised Littlejohn, adding he was "thrilled" that Littlejohn was "returning to his spiritual home". Littlejohn reportedly earns an annual salary of between £700,000 and £800,000, making him the "Mail"'s highest-paid journalist.

In addition to regular columns, Littlejohn has contributed articles to "The Spectator" and "Punch".

One of Littlejohn's "Sun" columns - a 2004 skit, entitled "Rum, Sodomy and the Lifejacket", in which Lord Nelson is confronted with political correctness, compensation culture and the nanny state - has been published in newspapers, magazines, and websites with Littlejohn's writing credit removed.

Radio

By the end of the 1980s, Littlejohn was known in London for his "Evening Standard" columns, and was invited to radio programmes as a pundit. From 1991, he worked for the London radio station LBC, standing in for Michael Parkinson on the morning show and Mike Dickin on the afternoon phone-in .

LBC gave Littlejohn his own early afternoon show, "Littlejohn's Long Lunch", in August 1992; the programme was a talk show featuring topical discussion, phone-ins, and guests. He later became permanent presenter of the morning show, replacing Parkinson.

Television

After leaving LBC in 1994, Littlejohn was approached by BSkyB managing director (and former "Sun" editor) Kelvin MacKenzie, and was offered the chance to present a nightly current affairs show on the TV channel Sky News. Called "Richard Littlejohn", the show ran for one year and was not a success. Littlejohn expressed his disappointment, claiming that broadcasting regulations would not permit him to present the show in the style of Rush Limbaugh's programmes: "If Sky News could emulate its U.S. sister Fox News... ratings would soon shoot past the Astra satellite. But the regulators won't allow it."

Later in 1994, Trevor Phillips of London Weekend Television hired Littlejohn to host a studio-based talk show entitled "Richard Littlejohn Live And Uncut". Phillips produced three series of the programme, which was transmitted in the London area. In 2006 it was named by the BBC's TV listings magazine "Radio Times" as one of the worst programmes on British television, its presenter called "as amateurish as he is odious". A fault during one LWT broadcast of one episode switched to RTL Television, which was showing softcore porn. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZnhjiEDZ0g YouTube - LNN 10 Year Awards ] ]

Littlejohn hosted the first series of Channel 4's game show "Wanted", a stand-in for Bob Mills)Fact|date=October 2007. "Wanted" aired in October 1996 and won a Silver Rose at the Festival Rose d'Or.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, Littlejohn presented shows for Carlton Television, including "Sport In Question", "Thursday Night Live", "Do I Not Like That", "Shut Up Shop" and "Forking Out For The Scots". Additionally, he has appeared on the BBC's "Question Time" and "Have I Got News For You".

As part of a 1997 deal which saw him return to the "Sun", Littlejohn hosted a night talk show on Sky One called "Littlejohn: Live And Unleashed". It was first broadcast on 21 April 1998.

In early 2003 he returned to Sky News to present "Littlejohn", a live talk show initially broadcast twice weekly but later extended to four nights per week. The programme was axed in 8 July 2004. Littlejohn has not ruled out returning to Sky News.

On 9 July 2007, Channel 4 showed a documentary entitled "The War on Britain's Jews?", presented by Richard Littlejohn.

Books

Littlejohn has authored or co-authored:

* "The Essex Girl Joke Book" (as Ray Leigh, with Brent Wood, 1991, Corgi Publishing) - a collection of Essex girl jokes, co-written (with "Brent Wood") under the pseudonym "Ray Leigh".

* "You Couldn't Make It Up" (1995, Heinemann, ISBN 0-434-00238-0) - named after one of Littlejohn's catchphrases, and described on the jacket as "a brilliant collection of liberal-skewering wit and wisdom", this is a book of recollections and opinion pieces on subjects such as political correctness, politicians, corporate "fat cats", the European Union, and the British Royal Family.

* "To Hell In A Handcart" (2001, HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-710613-0) - named after another of his catchphrases, this is Littlejohn's first and only novel, based loosely on the Tony Martin case. The book was lambasted by critics for its portrayal of asylum seekers and the stereotypical individuals in the book, notably by "The Independent"'s David Aaronovitch who described it as "a 400-page recruiting pamphlet for the BNP". However, it received positive reviews from some conservative writers such as Frederick Forsyth and Andrew Roberts. This was later the subject of a BBC Radio Five Live discussion with Will Self" (see below)".

* "The Book Of Useless Information" (with Keith Waterhouse, 2002, John Blake Publishing, ISBN 1-903402-79-4) - co-written with Keith Waterhouse, this "stocking filler" book is a collection of "useless" facts, described on the cover as "all you never needed to know and didn't need to ask."

* "The Ultimate Book Of Useless Information" (with Keith Waterhouse, 2004, John Blake Publishing, ISBN 1-84454-060-X) - another volume of "useless" facts.

* "Littlejohn's Britain" - Publisher: Hutchinson (3 May 2007) ISBN-10: 0091795680 - Described by the Observer as "Lampooning New Labour with polemic, pastiche, parody, satire and savage social commentary."

Controversy and criticism

Although he is praisedFact|date=May 2008 as an antidote to political correctness, Johann Hari, Will Self and David Aaronovitch see him as an inciter of hatred [ [http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=380 Johann Hari] The Independent - 16/04/2004, "He is a journalist who almost every week incites hatred against people fleeing torture."] Littlejohn has been described by Nick Griffin, leader of the far-right British National Party, as his favourite journalist, but Littlejohn has distanced himself, by describing them as "knuckle-scraping scum". ["Why do the race hate laws apply only to the knuckle-scraping scum of the BNP and not to those who peddle hatred and preach murder against the Jews, the Americans and the British?"Fact|date=May 2008 - [http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002180246,00.html Time for us to support the Jewish people] by Richard Littlejohn, "The Sun"]

In January 2003, Littlejohn said: "People project their own prejudices on me... I'm a convenient whipping boy... I'm the 'homophobe' who had a whole column in favour of gay weddings. I'm the 'racist' who supported Trevor Phillips for Mayor of London. It's not enough to disagree with them [the Left] - they have to make you out to be a monster".

Criminal record

Littlejohn has a criminal conviction for violence outside a nightclub in Peterborough in the 1970s. [http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/politicsphilosophyandsociety/0,,2099373,00.html]

LBC radio programme

During his time at LBC, Littlejohn was censured by the Radio Authority for breaching broadcasting rules. This culminated in an reprimand by the Radio Authority for homophobia, due to an edition of his phone-in show in which he suggested the police should have used flamethrowers againstgay rights protestors who reportedly kicked a police officer outside the Houses of Parliament. [ [http://www.bjr.org.uk/data/2002/no3_littlejohn.htm Why I'll never give up the day job] British Journalism Review, Vol. 13, No. 3, 2002, pages 65-70, "During one of the interminable age-of-consent debates, a gang of militant homosexuals kicked lumps out of a young police officer outside the Commons. I happened to remark on air that the police should have turned the flame throwers on them"] The subject of the protest was the lowering of the gay age of consent, which Littlejohn described as "allow [ing] schoolboys to be buggered at sixteen".Fact|date=May 2008 Littlejohn was judged by the Radio Authority to have breached guidelines on homophobia and incitement to violence. Littlejohn claims gay people on the programme found his comments about massacring gay people with flamethrowers "hilarious".Fact|date=May 2008

On another LBC phone-in he was censured by the Radio Authority for describing the British Royal Family as a "bunch of tax-evading adulterers". [ [http://www.bjr.org.uk/data/2002/no3_littlejohn.htm Why I'll never give up the day job] British Journalism Review, Vol. 13, No. 3, 2002, pages 65-70, "Another censure arrived when I described the royals as 'a bunch of tax-evading adulterers'. Who, with hindsight, would argue with that?"] Littlejohn favours abolition of the Monarchy. [ [http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-384188/Richard-Littlejohns-exclusive-webchat.html Richard Littlejohn's exclusive webchat | Mail Online ] ]

While opposed to restoration of the death penalty, he supports suspected terrorists being deported to states where they could be tortured or executed. Littlejohn demanded on 16 August 2002, after Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman had gone missing in Soham, a referendum on the death penalty for crimes against children, which he expected to find in favour of hanging. [The Sun newspaper - 16 August 2002] ] Fact|date=May 2008

The Michael Winner incident

On one of London Weekend Television show "Richard Littlejohn Live And Uncut" in July 1994, two lesbian guests (one of former Lambeth council leader Linda Bellos) argued in favour of lesbians becoming parents. Littlejohn was critical of the two women, which led to Michael Winner denouncing Littlejohn as a homophobe, saying "I think the lesbians have come across with considerable dignity and you have come across as an arsehole". Nigella Lawson, also present, described Littlejohn's views as "extreme".

Littlejohn recalled this incident in his 1995 book "You Couldn't Make It Up", expressing surprise that his "revolutionary opinion" that children should have a male and a female parent, and that the NHS should not subsidise artificial insemination for women "who can't even abide the thought of becoming pregnant in the natural manner", was condemned so vociferously.

The Will Self incident

On a June 2001 edition of Nicky Campbell's show on BBC Radio Five Live, a discussion took place between Littlejohn and Will Self. Both were on the show to promote their novels (Littlejohn's "To Hell in a Handcart" and Self's "How The Dead Live"). Campbell cited David Aaronovitch's description of Littlejohn's novel as a "400-page recruiting pamphlet for the BNP". Littlejohn responded (referring to Aaronovitch): "What else do you expect from an overgrown student union leader who used to be a member of the Communist Party?" He later boasted that he would include the quote on the cover of the book when it was reprinted. However, due to poor sales of the original publication, this reprinting has not taken place.

Self agreed with Aaronovitch's comments, said that he had read half of Littlejohn's book, which he described as "a kind of Tom Sharpe for the far right". Littlejohn said that he should "read the book in its totality", to which Self retorted "Why?... Does it turn into Tolstoy at page 205?". Littlejohn's response was: "No it doesn't turn into Tolstoy. I don't set out to be Tolstoy. It is a much more complex book than that". [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1390395.stm Self v Littlejohn] BBC. 15 June, 2001]

Self denounced Littlejohn as a bully and a coward, adding: "Ask anyone who's gay: they find him repugnant".

Attitude to homosexuality

The "Diary" column of "The Guardian" newspaper annually documents the results of a "Littlejohn audit" cite web
url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/diary/story/0,,1347351,00.html
title = Diary
accessdate = 2007-11-23
last = Hyde
first = Marina
authorlink = Marina Hyde
date = 2004-11-10
work = The Guardian
quote = A nagging feeling that, to some, anything to do with homosexuality remains fascinatingly transgressive forces us to conduct the annual Littlejohn audit.] — a count of the number of references Littlejohn makes to homosexuality in his columns. Quote|In the past year's Sun columns, Richard has referred 42 times to gays, 16 times to lesbians, 15 to homosexuals, eight to bisexuals, twice to 'homophobia' and six to being 'homophobic' (note his scornful inverted commas), five times to cottaging, four to 'gay sex in public toilets', three to poofs, twice to lesbianism, and once each to buggery, dykery, and poovery. This amounts to 104 references in 90-odd columns — an impressive increase on his 2003 total of 82 mentions. There is, alas, no space for us to revisit the scientific study which found obsessive homophobes more responsive to gay porn. But Richard, we're begging you: talk to someone.|Marina Hyde|"The Guardian"

Littlejohn has claimed he is opposed to discrimination against homosexuals. In his Daily Mail column on 10 October 2007, he said, in reference to British society in the 1970s: "Though homosexuality wasn't exactly my idea of a night out, I thought it outrageous that gays were subjected to discrimination in areas such as employment, housing and pensions." cite web
url = http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=485714&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=322
title = Richard Littlejohn
accessdate = 2007-11-28
date = 2007-10-04
work = Daily Mail] However, at the time he joked about gay-bashing and compared homosexuals to paedophiles. [http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=631] Ben Summerskill in the Guardian suggested Littlejohn talks so much about the subject because he is a repressed homosexual. [http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/politicsphilosophyandsociety/0,,2099373,00.html]

Johann Hari

Journalist Johann Hari described Littlejohn's writing as "far-right propaganda." He accused him of lying about benefits paid to asylum seekers.

In 2004, Hari appeared as a guest on Littlejohn's Sky News programme and challenged his claims that an asylum seeker could claim hundreds of pounds per week, stating that the true figure was £37.77. He later wrote: "I asked Richard how much a single asylum seeker is given in benefits each week. You'd think that a journalist who writes about asylum twice a week would, of course, know something so incredibly basic. His response was clear. He snapped: 'I have no idea'." [ [http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=380 Johann Hari - Archive ] ]

Hari published an article on his website in June 2005, stating that it was a "provable fact" that Littlejohn was a "racist and homophobe". The article cited Littlejohn's views on the Rwandan genocide [ [http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=631 Johann Hari - Archive ] ] ] , his comments about Gypsies in the wake of the Tony Martin case: ("He [Martin] had every reason to hate them. He and his neighbours had been terrorised by them for years."), and many other statements by Littlejohn. Citing Marina Hyde's article (see above), Hari also accused Littlejohn of being obsessed with homosexuality, of joking about gay-bashing and the murder of homosexuals, and of comparing homosexuality with paedophilia and extreme fetishes. Littlejohn has not taken up Hari's invitation to sue. [ [http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=631 Johann Hari - Archive ] ]

In a review in the "New Statesman" in 2007, he furthered his criticisms, writing that "He obsessively talks about cottaging, lubricants, 69ers... I think about gay sex much less than Richard Littlejohn - and I am gay. Every problem circles back to sodomy in his mind, as he panics: 'Soon we'll have gay men going door to door, like Jehovah's Witnesses, trying to convince us to convert.' This isn't bigotry. It's a psychiatric disorder." [ [http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=1119 Johann Hari - Archive ] ] In response, Littlejohn has dubbed him "Dirty Hari" and said he suspects Hari finds him sexually attractive. [http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=1148]

In 2008, Hari brought attention to an article in which Littlejohn described US Presidential candidate Barack Obama as "uppity". [http://blogs.independent.co.uk/openhouse/2008/08/did-richard-lit.html]

Criticisms of murdered prostitutes and kidnapped servicemen and women

On 19 December 2006, after the Ipswich murders of five women, Littlejohn described the victims as "disgusting, drug-addled street whores" and their deaths as "no great loss". He added that for prostitutes, being murdered is "an occupational hazard" from their "free choice". He described the feminist debate about how to rescue women from the murderer as "hilarious." [ [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=423549 Littlejohn: Spare us the 'People's Prostitute' routine... | the Daily Mail ] ]

Littlejohn later attacked British servicemen and women kidnapped by the Iranian government, dubbing one of them "fat" and claiming they had been "cowardly".

Personal life

Littlejohn is a fan of football, and is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur football club. He starred in his own football video, "We Woz Robbed". [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00004TXC8] In 1974 he married Wendy Bosworth in Peterborough. They have two children, Georgina and William.Littlejohn lives in Florida for much of the year.Fact|date=August 2008

References

External links

* [http://www.davidrowan.com/2003/01/times-interview-richard-littlejohn.html Interview] with Richard Littlejohn in The Times, January 2003
* [http://www.bjr.org.uk/data/2002/no3_littlejohn.htm Why I'll never give up the day job] - an article by Littlejohn for British Journalism Review, 2002
* [Daily Mail - 10 May 2006 - exclusive webchat]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1390000/1390395.stm BBC News: Self vs. Littlejohn]
* [http://www.johannhari.com/archive/article.php?id=631 Richard Littlejohn: Racist and Homophobe] - critical article by Johann Hari, June 2005
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2093924,00.html 'The irritant label has stuck. I think it's fantastic'] , interview with Richard Littlejohn in The Observer, June 2007
* [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=466785&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=322&in_check=N The new anti-Semitism: How the Left reversed history to bring Judaism under attack] by Richard Littlejohn. "Daily Mail" 6 July 2007
* [http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/special_reports/?content_id=6623 Richard Littlejohn Tackles Anti-semitism] . Interview with Richard Littlejohn at "TotallyJewish". 5 July 2007