I love media spats. I really do. After all, if you’re going to sit back and enjoy a war of words, you want it to be between people who make words their craft. So you can imagine my unmitigated joy at the cat fight that has broken out between the BBC and the Wall Street Journal.

In a nut, the BBC is narked over a WSJ editorial which accused the Corporation of contributing, through negligence, to the kidnapping of Alan Johnston.

Said the Journal… “The BBC seemed to operate in the Palestinian Authority with a sense of political impunity… [and] might ask itself whether its own failures of prudence and judgment put its reporter’s life in jeopardy.”

Youch.

But even more youchy is the BBC’s response, from the mouth of head of newsgathering Fran Unsworth… “Aside from the lack of sympathy shown by the Wall Street Journal, who must have asked themselves a few questions over the appalling tragedy of Daniel Pearl, it also happens to be totally unfounded.”

Ooh. Bitch one, Pearl one.

…

Anyway, speaking of people who are missing due to the contributory negligence of their guardians, I’ve been thinking more about poor Missing Maddy and her parents’ audience with Il Papa.

Assuming we buy the media’s groundless assumption that her kidnapping is the work of paedophiles, what exactly can the head of the Caatholic Church say to comfort them?

“Mrs McCann, I’ve had a word with some of the paedophiles we’re harbouring here and the good news is that one of them has your daughter.”