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'Francis James Baird Wheen' (born 22 January 1957) is a British writer and journalist, who was educated at Copthorne Prep School, Harrow School and Royal Holloway College, University of London. At Harrow he was a contemporary of Mark Thatcher who has been a recurring subject of his journalism. He is the author of several books including a biography of Karl Marx, which won the Isaac Deutscher prize. An award-winning column for ''The Guardian'' ran for several years. He writes for ''Private Eye'' and is the magazine's deputy editor. His collected journalism – ''Hoo-hahs and Passing Frenzies'' won him the George Orwell Prize in 2003. He is a regular columnist for the London ''Evening Standard''.
Wheen broadcasts regularly (mainly on BBC Radio 4) and is a regular panellist on ''The News Quiz'', in which he jokes fairly frequently about the fact that he rather looks like the former Tory party leader Iain Duncan Smith. He is also one of the most frequently recruited guests for ''Have I Got News For You''.
Wheen wrote a docudrama, ''The Lavender List'', for BBC Four on the final period of Harold Wilson's premiership, concentrating on his relationship with Marcia Williams, which was first screened in March 2006. It starred Kenneth Cranham as former Prime Minister Wilson and Gina McKee as Williams. In April 2007 the BBC paid £75,000 to Williams (Baroness Falkender) in an out-of-court settlement over claims made in the programme.[1] The BBC did not inform Wheen about the settlement beforehand, and he was reprotedly angered by the decision.
Francis Wheen is a signatory to the Euston Manifesto; he is a member of the 'soap' side of the Wheen family, whose family business was the long-established "Wheen & Sons", soap-makers, as was revealed in the gossip column of the ''Daily Mail'' on 26 March 2007, with humour.
In late-2005 Wheen was co-author, with journalists David Aaronovitch and Oliver Kamm, of a complaint to ''The Guardian'' after it published a correction and apology for an interview with Noam Chomsky by Emma Brockes. [2] Chomsky complained that the article suggested he denied the fact of the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. [3] The writer Diana Johnstone also complained about references to her in the interview. [4]
A ''Guardian'' readers' editor found that this had misrepresented Chomsky's position, and his judgement was upheld in May 2006 by an external ombudsman, John Willis. [5] In his report for the ''Guardian'', Willis detailed his reasons for rejecting the argument; Kamm maintains that his argument "remains unconsidered" by Willis. [6] ''The Independent's media columnist Stephen Glover criticized the Willis report and asks why Willis did not "reconsider Professor Chomsky's original complaint in the light of the evidence adduced by Messrs Aaronovitch, Kamm and Wheen in their letter".[7]
1. "BBC pays out over Wilson drama", ''The Guardian'' website, 4 April 2007.
2. Kamm, Oliver. "Chomsky, ''The Guardian'' and Bosnia", Oliver Kamm's weblog, March 20, 2006
3. Brockes, Emma. "The Greatest Intellectual?", ''The Guardian'', October 31, 2005; the article has since been withdrawn from the ''Guardian's'' website, but remains available at ''chomsky.info''.
4. Johstone, Diana. "The Bosnian war was brutal, but it wasn't a Holocaust", ''The Guardian'', November 23, 2005.
5. Willis, John. "External Ombudsman Report", ''The Guardian'', May 25, 2006
6. Kamm, Oliver. "Guardian and Chomsky, concluded", Oliver Kamm's weblog, May 26, 2006.
7. Glover, Stephen. "Stephen Glover on The Press", ''The Independent'', May 29, 2006.
★ ''The Sixties'' (1982) ISBN 0-7126-0018-3
★ ''Television: A History'' (1984) ISBN 0-7126-0929-6
★ ''Battle for London'' (1985) ISBN 0-7453-0054-5
★ ''Tom Driberg: His Life and Indiscretions'' (1990) ISBN 0-7011-3143-8
★ ''The Chatto Book of Cats (Chatto Anthologies)'' Francis Wheen, editor, John O'Connor, illustrator (1993) ISBN 0-7011-4005-4
★ ''Lord Gnome's Literary Companion'' (1994) ISBN 1-85984-945-8
★ ''Karl Marx'' (1999) ISBN 1-85702-637-3
★ ''Who Was Dr. Charlotte Bach?'' (2002) ISBN 1-904095-39-9
★ ''Hoo-hahs and Passing Frenzies: Collected Journalism, 1991-2001'' (2002) ISBN 1-903809-42-8 (mainly consisting of columns written for ''The Guardian'')
★ ''The Irresistible Con: The Bizarre Life of a Fraudulent Genius'' (2004) ISBN 1-904095-74-7
★ ''Shooting Out the Lights'' (2004) ISBN 0-00-714943-3
★ ''How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World'' (2004) ISBN 0-00-714096-7; in the USA and Canada: ''Idiot Proof: A Short History of Modern Delusions'' (2004) ISBN 1-58648-247-5
★ Extract from Hoo-Hahs and Passing Frenzies: Collected Journalism
Wheen broadcasts regularly (mainly on BBC Radio 4) and is a regular panellist on ''The News Quiz'', in which he jokes fairly frequently about the fact that he rather looks like the former Tory party leader Iain Duncan Smith. He is also one of the most frequently recruited guests for ''Have I Got News For You''.
Wheen wrote a docudrama, ''The Lavender List'', for BBC Four on the final period of Harold Wilson's premiership, concentrating on his relationship with Marcia Williams, which was first screened in March 2006. It starred Kenneth Cranham as former Prime Minister Wilson and Gina McKee as Williams. In April 2007 the BBC paid £75,000 to Williams (Baroness Falkender) in an out-of-court settlement over claims made in the programme.[1] The BBC did not inform Wheen about the settlement beforehand, and he was reprotedly angered by the decision.
Francis Wheen is a signatory to the Euston Manifesto; he is a member of the 'soap' side of the Wheen family, whose family business was the long-established "Wheen & Sons", soap-makers, as was revealed in the gossip column of the ''Daily Mail'' on 26 March 2007, with humour.
In late-2005 Wheen was co-author, with journalists David Aaronovitch and Oliver Kamm, of a complaint to ''The Guardian'' after it published a correction and apology for an interview with Noam Chomsky by Emma Brockes. [2] Chomsky complained that the article suggested he denied the fact of the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. [3] The writer Diana Johnstone also complained about references to her in the interview. [4]
A ''Guardian'' readers' editor found that this had misrepresented Chomsky's position, and his judgement was upheld in May 2006 by an external ombudsman, John Willis. [5] In his report for the ''Guardian'', Willis detailed his reasons for rejecting the argument; Kamm maintains that his argument "remains unconsidered" by Willis. [6] ''The Independent's media columnist Stephen Glover criticized the Willis report and asks why Willis did not "reconsider Professor Chomsky's original complaint in the light of the evidence adduced by Messrs Aaronovitch, Kamm and Wheen in their letter".[7]
| Contents |
| References |
| Partial bibliography |
| External links |
References
1. "BBC pays out over Wilson drama", ''The Guardian'' website, 4 April 2007.
2. Kamm, Oliver. "Chomsky, ''The Guardian'' and Bosnia", Oliver Kamm's weblog, March 20, 2006
3. Brockes, Emma. "The Greatest Intellectual?", ''The Guardian'', October 31, 2005; the article has since been withdrawn from the ''Guardian's'' website, but remains available at ''chomsky.info''.
4. Johstone, Diana. "The Bosnian war was brutal, but it wasn't a Holocaust", ''The Guardian'', November 23, 2005.
5. Willis, John. "External Ombudsman Report", ''The Guardian'', May 25, 2006
6. Kamm, Oliver. "Guardian and Chomsky, concluded", Oliver Kamm's weblog, May 26, 2006.
7. Glover, Stephen. "Stephen Glover on The Press", ''The Independent'', May 29, 2006.
Partial bibliography
★ ''The Sixties'' (1982) ISBN 0-7126-0018-3
★ ''Television: A History'' (1984) ISBN 0-7126-0929-6
★ ''Battle for London'' (1985) ISBN 0-7453-0054-5
★ ''Tom Driberg: His Life and Indiscretions'' (1990) ISBN 0-7011-3143-8
★ ''The Chatto Book of Cats (Chatto Anthologies)'' Francis Wheen, editor, John O'Connor, illustrator (1993) ISBN 0-7011-4005-4
★ ''Lord Gnome's Literary Companion'' (1994) ISBN 1-85984-945-8
★ ''Karl Marx'' (1999) ISBN 1-85702-637-3
★ ''Who Was Dr. Charlotte Bach?'' (2002) ISBN 1-904095-39-9
★ ''Hoo-hahs and Passing Frenzies: Collected Journalism, 1991-2001'' (2002) ISBN 1-903809-42-8 (mainly consisting of columns written for ''The Guardian'')
★ ''The Irresistible Con: The Bizarre Life of a Fraudulent Genius'' (2004) ISBN 1-904095-74-7
★ ''Shooting Out the Lights'' (2004) ISBN 0-00-714943-3
★ ''How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World'' (2004) ISBN 0-00-714096-7; in the USA and Canada: ''Idiot Proof: A Short History of Modern Delusions'' (2004) ISBN 1-58648-247-5
External links
★ Extract from Hoo-Hahs and Passing Frenzies: Collected Journalism
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