Much excitement on the Diary desk at a press release from the worthy Teachers’ Benevolent Fund, trumpeting the headline: “pound;250,000 for Teachers in Need from Professor Tim Brighouse.”
Now the diary bows to no-one in its respect for the great Prof T and his work in Birmingham.
But surely - surely - this act of generosity towards the NUT fund for teachers in need puts him in a different league?
Er, afraid not. On closer reading of said press release, it turns out that Tim wasn’t giving the money so much as, ahem, receiving it on behalf of the fund from marvellously-named Brummy teacher Pete Elvis.
And, er, it wasn’t really a donation of pound;250,000 either. Pete had only really handed over his annual 12 quid sub - albeit “the best pound;12 a year I ever spend as a member of the NUT”.
It was this that tipped donations over the fund’s quarter-of-a-million target.
Let’s hope the eager, young media studies students gathered for the presentation don’t take the accompanying press release as a lesson in how to write headlines.
Or, indeed, quotes. The diary is still scratching its head over the attached comment from the professor: “Teachers are the only profession who treat children as they will be in the future, not just as they are today.”
Answers on a postcard, please...
Susan Young
