I'm one of the rapidly diminishing number of people who regularly buys a print newspaper. Naturally, I typically read the Guardian, Mirror, Morning Star etc.

But from time to time, I buy the Tory papers. Today I got the Telegraph.

Obviously, one of the benefits of reading print newspapers is you get a more comprehensive overview of the messages and strategies of key figures in politics and the commentariat - beyond what is fronted in your preferred media outlet or what gets picked up on social media.

Today's Telegraph contains a prominent piece from Priti Patel (page 4) about headlined "Selfish organisers of illegal raves are jeopardising progress we have made". It tells of the evils of people organising illegal parties in the midst of a global pandemic.

There might be some value in government messaging directed towards people tempted to organise or attend events - like raves - where social distancing is impossible.

However, that's not what this article is for, and not what this article does.

Priti Patel's article being printed in the Telegraph is telling. It's a newspaper which has a readership, near to 100% of which will have never attended a rave, have no intention of attending a rave, and have never known anyone who has attended a rave.

The text of Priti Patel's article is equally telling. It tells readers that their "sacrifice and sense of duty" has been vital in the fight against the virus.

Meanwhile, this is contrasted with the non-reader, who is a "small minority of inconsiderate individuals".

The sole purpose for Priti Patel writing this article, and the sole purpose for the Telegraph in publishing it is to identify and isolate a group of people and a set of behaviours they can blame for the spread of coronavirus, deflecting blame from the government itself.

The article that will be read by over 200,000 people in print and thousands more online, and serves only to propagandise for the government.

All the while, over 40,000 people have died as a result of the Tories' botched, ideological and incompetent handling of the pandemic.