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{{Other uses|Private eye (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name = Private Eye
| image = [[File:Private Eye Cover.jpg|centre|230px|alt=Magazine cover dominated by large colour photograph overlaid with cartoon-style speech bubbles, captioned with tabloid-style headline, below a yellow and green masthead. There is no prose on the cover.]]
| caption = Cover of ''Private Eye'' from July 2011
| type = Fortnightly [[satire|satirical]] <br /> news [[magazine]]
(contracted; show full)
* '''"That Honorary Citation In Full"''', a [[Dog Latin]] tribute to prominent figures awarded [[honorary degree]]s, usually beginning "''SALUTAMUS''"<ref>{{cite book|last=Robertson|first=Wilmot|title=Instauration, Volumes 19-20|year=1993|publisher=Howard Allen Enterprises, Inc.|page
s=30}}</ref> 
* '''"Under The Microscope"''' – looking at scientific issues.
* '''"Wikipedia Whispers"''' – reporting cases of personalities apparently editing their own [[Wikipedia]] entries to make them more favourable. The name recalls "Wicked Whispers", a section in the "3am" feature of the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' newspaper.<ref>{{Ccite web|last=Shelley |first=Jim |url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/3am/wickedwhispers/ |title=Celebrity News – Celebs |publisher=Mirror.co.uk |date=2009-08-11 |accessdate=2010-04-28}}</ref>

(contracted; show full)en unsympathetic. During the 1980s, Ingrams and [[John Wells (satirist)|John Wells]] wrote fictional letters from [[Denis Thatcher]] to [[Bill Deedes]] in the ''[[Dear Bill]]'' column, mocking Margaret Thatcher's husband as an amiable, golf-playing drunk. The column was collected in a series of books and became a play in which Wells played the fictional Denis, a character who is now inextricably "blurred [with] the real historical figure", according to Ingrams.<ref>
{{cite web|author=Richard Ingrams's week |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/jun/12/politicalcolumnists.comment |title=Richard Ingrams's week &#124; Politics &#124; The Observer |publisher=Guardian |date=2005-06-12 |accessdate=2013-08-15}}</ref>

===Miscellanea===
* ''Classified'' – adverts from readers. In the past, these commonly featured personal ads which used code words to describe particular sexual acts. Currently, the adverts usually include products for sale, conspiracy theorists promoting their ideas, and the "Eye Need" adverts in which people request money for personal causes.
* ''Crossword'' – a cryptic prize [[crossword]], notable for its vulgarity. In the early 1970s the crossword was set by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]] [[Tom Driberg]], under the pseudonym of "[[Tiresias]]" (supposedly "a distinguished academic churchman"). {{As of|2011}} it was set by one of ''[[The Guardian]]'''s cryptic crossword setters, Eddie James ("Brummie" in the paper) under the name Cyclops. The crossword frequently contains offensive language and references (both in the clues and the solutions), and a knowledge of the magazine's in-jokes and slang is necessary to solve it.
* ''Letters'' – this frequently includes letters from high-profile figures, sometimes in order for the magazine to print an apology and avoid litigation. Other letters express disgust at a recent article or cartoon, many ending by saying (sometimes in jest) that they will (or will not) cancel their subscription. This section also prints celebrity 'lookalikes' ("We should be told") and regularly prints an embarrassing picture of [[Andrew Neil]] (see: [[Recurring in-jokes in Private Eye#Subtle jibes aimed at specific individualsShurely|recurring in-jokes]]).
* ''The Book of...'' – a spoof of the [[Old Testament]], applying language and imagery reminiscent of the [[King James Bible]] to current affairs in the Middle East.
*''The Alternative Rocky Horror Prayer Book'' – a pastiche of attempts to update Anglican religious ceremonies into more modern versions.
(contracted; show full)
* ''Apparently'' by Mike Barfield - satirising day-to-day life or pop trends.
* ''The Premiersh*ts'' by Paul Wood - satire of professional football and footballers, in particular the [[Premier League]].
* ''Celeb'' by [[Charles Peattie]] and Mark Warren - a strip about the celebrity rock star Gary Bloke. A BBC sitcom version was spun off in 2002.<ref>
[{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2240601.stm BBC News - |title=Celeb rocks on and on] |publisher=BBC News |date=2002-09-06 |accessdate=2013-08-15}}</ref>
* ''Snipcock & Tweed'' by [[Nick Newman]] - two book publishers.
* ''The Directors'' by Dredge & Rigg - comments on the excesses of boardroom [[Fat cat (term)|fat cats]].
* ''[[The Cloggies]]'' (defunct) by [[Bill Tidy]] - [[clogging|clog dancers]].
* ''Hom Sap'' (defunct) by [[David Austin (cartoonist)|Austin]].
(contracted; show full) and occasionally controversial humour offensive. Upon the death of [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], ''Private Eye'' printed a cover headed "MEDIA TO BLAME". Under this headline was a picture of many hundreds of people outside [[Buckingham Palace]], with one person commenting that the papers were "a disgrace", another agreeing, saying that it was impossible to get one anywhere, and another saying, "Borrow mine. It's got a picture of the car."<ref>{{
Ccite web| url=http://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers.php?showme=932 | title=Private Eye Issue 932 | accessdate=2007-06-15}}</ref>
Following the abrupt change in reporting from newspapers immediately following her death, the issue also featured a mock retraction from "all newspapers" of everything negative that they had ever said about Diana. This was enough to cause a flood of complaints, many cancelled subscriptions{{Citation needed|reason=This claim needs a reliable source; readers often write(contracted; show full)agazine even including a special "subscription cancellation coupon" for disgruntled readers to send in) and the [[Soham murders]].  Following the [[7 July 2005 London bombings]] the magazine's cover featured [[Tony Blair]] saying to [[Ken Livingstone]], "We must track down the evil mastermind behind the bombers...", to which Livingstone replies "...and invite him around for tea", in reference to his controversial invitation of [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]] to London.<ref>{{
Ccite web| url=http://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers.php?showme=1137 |
title=Private Eye Issue 1137 | accessdate=2007-06-15}}</ref>

===Bigotry===

The cover of issue 256 from 1971 showed Emperor [[Hirohito]] visiting Britain with the caption "A nasty nip in the air" (subhead: "Piss off, Bandy Knees").<ref>{{Ccite web|
url = http://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers.php?showme=256 | title=Private Eye Issue 256 | accessdate=2007-06-15}}</ref> In the 1960s and 1970s the magazine mocked the [[LGBT social movements|gay rights movement]] as "Poove Power".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/21190547@N02/2121791505/lightbox/ |title=pelib &#124; Flickr – Condivisione di foto! |publisher=Flickr.com |date=2007-12-19 |accessdate=2013-08-15}}</ref>

===Blasphemy===
The 2004 Christmas issue received a number of complaints and subscription cancellations{{Citation needed|reason=This claim needs a reliable source; readers often write in to cancel in jest.|date=December 2012}} after it featured [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder|Pieter Bruegel]]'s painting of a [[nativity scene]], in which one wise man said to another: "Apparently, it's [[David Blunkett]]'s" (who at the time was involved in a scandal in which he was thought to have impregnated a married woman). Many readers sent letters accusing the magazine of [[blasphemy]] and [[Anti-Christian sentiment|anti-Christian]] attitudes. One stated that the "witless, gutless buggers wouldn't dare mock [[Islam]]", an observation later apparently vindicated when the magazine declined to publish the [[Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy|Danish Mohammed cartoons]] for fear of firebombs (although it does regularly publish Islam-related humour). Many letters in the first issue of 2005 disagreed with the former readers' complaints, and some were parodies of those letters, 'complaining' about the following issue's cover<ref>{{Ccite web| url=http://www.private-eye.co.uk/covers.php?showme=1122 | title=Private Eye Issue 1122 | accessdate=2007-06-15}}</ref> – a cartoon depicting [[Santa Claus|Santa]]'s sleigh shredded by a [[wind farm]]: one said, "To use a picture of Our Lord Father Christmas and his Holy Reindeer being torn limb from limb while flying over a windfarm is inappropriate and blasphemous."

===MMR===
During the early 2000s ''Private Eye'' published many stories on the [[MMR vaccine controversy]],  substantially supporting the interpretation by [[Andrew Wakefield]] of published research in ''[[The Lancet]]'' by the [[Royal Free Hospital]]'s Inflammatory Bowel Disease Study Group, which described an apparent link between the vaccine, [[autism]] and bowel problems. Many of these stories accused medical researchers who supported the vaccine's safety of having conflicts of interest because of funding from the pharmaceutical industry. Initially dismissive of Wakefield, the magazine rapidly moved to support him, in 2002 publishing a 32-page ''MMR Special Report'', assembled by Heather Mills, that supported Wakefield's assertion that MMR vaccines "should be given individually at not less than one year intervals." The ''[[BMJ|British Medical Journal]]'' issued a contemporary press release<ref>{{Ccite web|author=Home |url=http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7347/1224/DC1 |title=Press: Private Eye Special Report on MMR – Elliman and Bedford 324 (7347): 1224 Data Supplement – Longer version |doi=10.1136/bmj.324.7347.1224 |publisher=BMJ |date= |accessdate=2010-04-28}}</ref> that concluded: "The ''Eye'' report is dangerous in that it is likely to be read by people who are concerned about the safety of the vaccine. A doubting parent who reads this might be convinced there is a genuine problem and the absence of any proper references will prevent them from checking the many misleading statements." Subsequently, editor Ian Hislop told the author and columnist [[Ben Goldacre]] that ''Private Eye'' is "not anti-MMR".<ref>{{Ccite web|url=http://www.badscience.net/2008/08/the-medias-mmr-hoax/#comment-22012 |title=The media's MMR hoax – Bad Science |doi=10.1016/j.ridd.2010.01.014 |publisher=Badscience.net |date=2008-08-30 |accessdate=2010-04-28}}</ref> In a review article published in February 2010, after Wakefield was disciplined by the General Medical Council, regular columnist [[Phil Hammond (comedian)|Phil Hammond]], who contributes under the pseudonym "M.D.",  stated that "''Private Eye(contracted; show full)

== Ownership ==

The magazine is apparently owned by an eclectic group of people, officially published through the mechanism of a limited company called Pressdram Ltd,<ref name="pressdram">{{
Ccite web|url=http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk| title=Pressdram|accessdate=2007-12-06|publisher=[[Companies House]]|work=WebCHeck – Company Details| quote=PRESSDRAM LIMITED<br/>C/O MORLEY AND SCOTT<br/>LYNTON HOUSE<br/>7–12 TAVISTOCK SQUARE<br/>LONDON WC1H 9LT<br/>Company No. 00708923<br/>Date of Incorporation: 24 November 1961}}</ref> which was bought as an [[shelf corporation|"off the shelf" company]] by [[Peter Cook]] in November 1961.

(contracted; show full)[[Category:British satirical magazines|Private Eye]]
[[Category:British magazines|Private Eye]]
[[Category:Criticism of journalism]]
[[Category:Publications established in 1961]]
[[Category:Biweekly magazines]]
[[Category:Investigative news sources]]
[[Category:British political magazines]]
[[Category:1961 establishments in the United Kingdom]]