Preaching to the 'Feral Beast' : Tony Blair's Farewell Speech to the Press

This article addresses Tony Blair’s Reuters Speech on the Media, which he gave just about a fortnight before resigning in June 2007, and contextualizes it against the backdrop of the current debate on ethical issues in 24-hour journalism and the relationship between politicians and the media. Focusing on discursive strategies and metaphorical aspects, and relying on a cultural studies approach, my analysis deconstructs the Prime Minister’s speech (in which he famously likened the British press to “a feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits”) along the perspective of Blair’s discursive self-construction in an attempt to shape his future image and ranking in national history.