He portrays himself only as a victim of the press.Does the press set out to create such victims? If ordinary members of the public sat in on some editorial conferences they would be surprised at the intensity of the some of the language. This is often a sham, part of the management techniques of some editors and their senior executives as they seek to motivate reporters. Terms such as "monster" and "turn over" were certainly in common usage when I was at The Sunday Times. Andrew Neil, the then editor, was in profound disagreement with every thought had by the then chancellor, Norman Lamont, and would regularly announce what damage the paper should be doing to him.The Guardian, for its part, was relentless in its pursuit of Jonathan Aitken, over conflicts in his role as a government minister and his association with Middle Eastern arms dealers. The feud went all the way to the libel courts - and in Aitken's case to prison - as the Tory MP pledged to "cut out the cancer of bent and twisted journalism in this country". Was that a vendetta - an obsession by The Guardian that they would "get" Aitken? Certainly the latter, but it was soundly based, and journalists will not expose without that degree of obsessive determination.It can be personal when it is political - when the story is based more on the political standpoint of the paper than the supposed wrongdoing of the person being written about.

Livingstone may believe that the Mail has for years been "out to get him". John Prescott, for decades sneered at by the Mail for his education, intellect, coherence, background and number of Jaguars, has always shrugged and turned the other cheek, usually with a witty sideswipe at the journalists. It always works.Do newspapers go for individuals? Certainly, but usually when they are public figures against whom allegations have been made, who appear to be guilty of great humbug or hypocrisy, or who represent a policy or point of view opposite to that supported by the paper In which case, fair game. If it is simply malicious, then it is indefensible, and the law can play a role. Many of those who moan loudest about the wickedness of the press have benefited most from constant media exposure, be it supportive or non-supportive. Red Ken never got where he did in politics by being "unavailable for comment".One footnote, however.

Who moans loudest, finds the experience most painful, and is least able to handle it when subjected to close scrutiny by the media? Undoubtedly journalists, who, when reluctantly drawn into the public eye themselves, are notoriously bad at taking what they are so good at dishing out.Peter Cole is professor of journalism at the University of Sheffield. The BBC is bracing itself for the Green Paper on its future and the big question that it will surely raise - how the corporation should be governed The Paper is a long time coming No doubt the Government is tweaking and arm-twisting. And at the end of it all, will Michael Grade decide that there is no future for him as chairman of the board of governors? The BBC is bracing itself for the Green Paper on its future and the big question that it will surely raise - how the corporation should be governed The Paper is a long time coming No doubt the Government is tweaking and arm-twisting. Last time round the business had been sorted by this stage in the cycle.