Who's listening?
The parliamentary expenses scandal is leaving less room for other stories, says Dougal Paver.
It's just like the Queen Mum passing away - save, perhaps, for discussions about gin and overdrafts. The first heaven-knows-how-many pages of each morning paper are given over to a single subject, squeezing out all else.
And whereas last time the outpouring of public sorrow was for a much-loved icon's demise, this time it's public anger at an icon's sorry behaviour. For parliament - and parliamentarians - are officially held in contempt. Complete and utter contempt.
For those in the PR industry - or "editorial advertising", as I saw it described this week - this is an issue all of its own. How do we get our stories in the media when they're fixating on a single subject? Answer: with a tad more creativity, a goodly deal more hustling and a finer nose for what constitutes a story in the first place.
Just like a recession, a single issue frenzy like the last week's sorts the men from the boys. Life is made doubly hard for the also-rans when long-term undercurrents such as the emergence of e-PR tactics begin to hold the attention of clients. Move slowly or fail to adapt at all and you're dead in the water. Just like our current government, in fact.
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