THE editor of the Daily Bugle has given evidence to the Leveson Inquiry about his newspaper’s negative coverage of Spider-Man.
J. Jonah Jameson, famous for his vocal opposition to the web-slinging vigilante, has been accused of deliberately distorting events to demonise Spider-Man and boost his newspapers circulation figures.
Cross-examined at the inquiry, Jameson at first defended the estimated 9,000 Bugle editorials he has written calling for Spider-Mans arrest on charges ranging from theft to public endangerment to murder.
But the editor, nervously puffing on his trademark cigar, admitted that inaccurate headlines casting the web-slinging hero as the villain in battles against the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus were only corrected in one-and-a-half inch apologies on page two.
Jameson said: Stories about Spider-Man have, on occasion, proved to contain factual errors because of clones, evil counterparts from other dimensions, robots, shape-shifting Skrulls and the illusions of the villain Mysterio.
However, I remain convinced that this webbed menace is a threat to ordinary people despite the PR campaign promoting him as a friendly neighbour who washes his underwear in kitchen utensils.
Photojournalist Peter Parker was invited to the inquiry to explain his relationship with the vigilante he has photographed on an almost daily basis for decades, but declined in order to protect his sources.
The next witness called to the inquiry will be Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane, who had filed a string of overwhelmingly positive stories about the clearly insane hero Superman.
