Mary O'Rourke and the media hunt for scalps

Ironically, the Irish Independent, which vigorously pursued the story, often makes much of its disregard for PC values. A similar incongruity could be observed in the recent treatment of the story of the death of Liam Lawlor, when several newspapers which have been assiduous in promoting the idea that sexual morality should not be subject to the collective conscience, went big on a story in which the "sting" had to do with the exact "moral" values such newspapers have worked assiduously to dislodge. (The story was also, of course, entirely wrong, but that's another matter.) This tells us that, when it comes to pursuing a political scalp – dead or alive – some newspapers are pretty sanguine about the possibility of appearing at odds with their own oft-expressed principles. The "story" is everything, so an uncharacteristic belief in marital monogamy or a previously unremarked commitment to the sensitivities of black people is fair enough if it can be employed to justify the hunt for a scalp.