Twitter – the heart of journalism. Let’s be honest, at this point we’re the only people using the damn thing. The bright side? We can get as salty as we like – and there are a hundred other like-minded journos to laugh alongside you. Of course, 2016 was filled with scandal upon scandal for us to sarcastically write off in 140 characters. Here are some of our favourites from the last 12 months…
Will Black on Camilla Long
In one of the most satisfying tales of irony of all time, Camilla Long’s review of Moonlight was met with some terrible reviews of its own. The epitome of salty responses came from Will Black, who put some serious effort into his tweet finding another of her provocative opinions from January 2016…
Anyone who attended university knows a Camilla Long. They spend three years wittering about pashminas before daddy gets them a media job pic.twitter.com/02U1yg7y36
— Will Black (@WillBlackWriter) February 19, 2017
Jay Rayner vs Michael Gove
What do we expect our former Secretary of State for Justice to spend time on as the world descends into utter chaos? Trolling food critics on Twitter, apparently. Critiquing Jay Rayner’s promotion of his book, Michael Gove was served some delicious humble pie in this hilarious response…
Dear @michaelgove remember when you were so busy and important that trying to troll someone like me would be an unthinkable waste of time?
— Jay Rayner (@jayrayner1) December 21, 2016
Stephen Leng vs Everyone who voted Trump
There’s nothing like some salty sarcasm to shame Trump voters in the face of genuinely terrifying global crises.
Aren’t we lucky evil Hillary didn’t become president? Jeez, those emails, amiright? #MuslimBan pic.twitter.com/dlTinV6Yva
— Stephen Leng (@steveleng) January 29, 2017
Jamie Ross vs Piers Morgan
If you want to have endless fun scrolling, search for the best response to Piers Morgan on Twitter. We can’t even single out one particular spat, because there have been so many. In yet another display of perfect irony, Jamie Ross won our hearts with his tweet showing up Trump’s number one fan.
— Jamie Ross (@JamieRoss7) February 24, 2017
hrtbps vs Nigel Farage & Raheem Kassam
When a picture says a thousand words…
— hrtbps (@hrtbps) December 25, 2016
Ruby Tandoh vs Paul Hollywood
The baker turned columnist threw hilarious shade at Paul Hollywood when it was revealed he would continue to judge The Great British Bake Off despite it being poached from the BBC.
this, from a man who turned up to work revving a rental lamborghini. or was it a ferrari. i don’t remember, the air was thick w testosterone
— Ruby Tandoh (@rubytandoh) September 22, 2016
JK Rowling vs Piers Morgan
We can’t include a session of Piers-baiting without our MVP, JK Rowling. While she may not be a journo, she topped us all in the trolling of the century (TRY HARDER GUYS, WE CAN DO THIS!). Responding to Morgan’s claims that she is irrelevant, she tweeted a quote from his own article years earlier, a tweet so clever even he didn’t get it at first…
Just been sent this! Could the writer let me know who he is? I’d love to thank him! #Valentines pic.twitter.com/OQtbxPD6AL
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 14, 2017
Priceless #humblebrag BS. Nobody plays the celebrity game more abusively or ruthlessly than you, Ms ‘Intensely Private Billionaire’. https://t.co/5ysnfefa3d
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 14, 2017
Max Benwell vs The Telegraph
SEO – the killer of creativity. Max Benwell congratulating The Telegraph is all of us when we see a title so SEO we don’t know whether to applaud or boo.
telegraph nailing the seo today pic.twitter.com/2yARicy2ah
— Max Benwell (@Max_Benwell) January 18, 2017
And finally, one just to make you laugh, no hidden agendas…
Andrew Loch on Rats
Congratulations to whoever is doing the PR for rats pic.twitter.com/D4Cd6wARZs
— Andrew Bloch (@AndrewBloch) January 19, 2017