LEP Buff-Hoonery

The LEP has a picture of Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon on its cover today, "re-imagined as Thomas the Tank Engine's Fat Controller." Hoon is in the news because he reportedly said that packed trains on the West Coast Mainline are a sign of success. Unimpressed with these words, the LEP have labelled him a "shortsighted Buff-Hoon". I'm not that concerned with the copy in this case. If commuters are paying good money in these difficult times then they shouldn't have to travel in sardine-can conditions. My issue is with the ridiculous picture.

What are the LEP getting at dressing Hoon up as the Fat Controller? Is this a marketing ploy? Or are they trying to make a serious comment? Maybe they just think that their readers don't see the true issues for what they are and to contextualise on the level of popular culture. As far as the imagery is concerned, it's pretty embarrassing that the cover picture seems quite well done, while on page 13 Matthew Squires' pictures of crowding on trains are so poor. If citizen journalism can lead to award-winning photography, newspapers really need to step up their game.

Read the article here.