Grauniad,  Guardian,  Hypocrites

Guardian staffer sounds off on Alan Rusbridger’s management in a piano memoir thread

Criticising the boss is never easy. But when your boss is the po-faced editor of the Guardian, and the subject is his half-million salary and vanity scribblings as against compulsory redundancies and pay-cuts, you apparently can’t file a grievance in the comment section of one of his essays.

On this thread, Alan Rusbridger’s efforts in learning the piano are chronicled.

This is a post which was deleted, multiple times as others reposted it. Eventually, they closed the thread.

“Afternoon Alan – I’m a member of Guardian staff, posting anonymously.

As you know, it’s a tough time for your journalists at the moment – especially for those of us way down the food chain: the production grunts, the desk-bound, the ones who actually produce the content.

We’re working harder and harder (because we love the papers), coping with dwindling resources and morale, we’re badly mismanaged, and trying to cope with the life-changing threat of compulsory redundancies – all a result of the company’s long-term financial illiteracy and lavish excess at the top.

So I just want to say thanks for the series of articles – three now, isn’t it? – about learning to play your Fazioli piano. They’re brilliantly timed, and I know they’ll lift spirits. We always wondered how you filled your days, how you spent your fortune. Now we know.”

Update: Remember this?

He was right, of course.