‘Private Eye’ and the function of satire – key
As editor of Private Eye,/ ‘Private Eye’, / Private Eye, / Private Eye, / "Private Eye" Ian Hislop is the most sued man in English legal history, although he is not involved in as many libel actions as he once was.
Good style in the written introduction: Such is its long-term popularity and significance that = its long-term popularity and significance are so considerable that …..
Punctuation: Notice the various alternatives when quoting a title of a book, newspaper, article or programme. You can use italics, inverted commas (‘….’, "…"), embolden or underline the title.
The comma completes separate clauses. Sometimes we omit this comma if the sentence is short (as in this sentence!), unlike the convention in some languages.
Hislop continues to be applauded for his wit and for his satire. In an interview with Third WayMagazine / ‘Third Way Magazine’ / "Third Way Magazine" / Third Way Magazine / Third Way Magazine he said, "Satire is the bringing to ridicule of vice, folly and humbug. All the negatives imply a set of positives. Certainly in this country, you only go around saying, ‘That’s wrong, that’s corrupt’ if you have some feeling that it should be better than that. People say, ‘You satirists attack everything.’ Well, we don’t, actually. That’s the whole point."
Style: You wrote down the phrase for his wit and for his satire because that was what you heard, but actually, in practice there is no need to repeat the second ‘for his’.
Punctuation when quoting speech. There are various options here! Notice that Hislop is quoted within his own speechmarks, and the comments he quotes that other people have said are in their own inverted commas.
Notice the comma or colon that precedes quoted speech: …. he said, "Satire…." / saying, ‘That’s wrong …..’ / People say, ‘You satirists….’ or
…. he said: "Satire…." saying: "That’s wrong ….." People say: ‘You satirists….’
It would also be correct to omit the capital letters which quote what the person actually said, when beginning these sentences. (He could have begun the sentences with another word or phrase such as ‘In my opinion / As I see it, satire …..’ or ‘the trouble is, you satirists…..’) so you could write: he said, "satire…." saying, "that’s wrong ….." People say, ‘you satirists…."
Did you remember the comma in the list of 3 nouns – vice, folly and humbug?
Did you remember the apostrophes in ‘we don‘t, actually. That‘s the whole point’?
Vocabulary
a private eye is informal for a private detective.
sue – verb – take legal action against a person or organization, especially by making a legal claim for money because of some harm that they have caused you. This harm is called ‘damages‘ so you sue for damages‘ i.e. damage to your reputation or business eg He was so furious about the statements in the report that he threatened to sue. She is suing her husband for (= in order to obtain) £20,000.
libel – noun – piece of writing or speech which contains bad and false things about a person eg He threatened to sue the author for libel.
a legal action is a legal process, a lawsuit
a libel action is a libel case / lawsuit
applaud – verb – approve of, praise
Third Way Magazine is a highbrow UK current-affairs magazine written from a Christian perspective.
folly – foolishness
humbug 1) boiled peppermint sweet 2) deceptive, hypocritical or false talk or behaviour
satirist – person who uses humour, irony, exaggeration or ridicule to expose and criticise stupidity or vices
That’s the whole point – that illustrates / is a perfect example of exactly what I mean.
Point sometimes means relevance – eg "that’s not the point" = "that’s irrelevant / that has nothing to do with it". Point can be a significant or essential element, objective or reason – eg The point of meeting was to discuss the future.