Tuesday 3 November 2009

Express front page - not only pointless, but untrue

Remember this story from last week?

At the time this blog suggested that it seemed a bizarrely insignificant story to put on the front page of a newspaper, yet coming after the fictitious EU income tax and the 'it's going to be warm for a few days' ones, it seemed to fit with the Express' desire to be as pointless and uninteresting as possible.

'What has happened to our country?' the paper thundered, as it reported on a puppy that had been viciously stamped to death by thugs.

It wasn't the only media outlet to report it, but the only one to give it such prominence. It's as if certain newspapers are willing to believe anything that makes Britain seem violent, out-of-control, awful.

So what has happened to our country?

Apparently, not much:

An inquiry into the "kicking to death" of a 10-week-old puppy has ended after police found the animal had died from a virus and showed no sign of injury.

Oh.

(Hat tip to James)

4 comments:

  1. The RSPCA are as bad as the rent a quote mob.

    This is about the 5th time I have seen them give a quote or stoke up an untrue story.

    ReplyDelete
  2. As someone else has posted, you do get over-excitable:

    http://www.liberalconspiracy.org/2009/11/04/sun-angry-over-puppy-fiend-story-untrue/#comment-78671

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hannibal - So sticking a story on the front of a newspaper that is not only of very limited news value and that has been researched so poorly it turns out not to be true is not over-excitable? Using that story to try to make some point about the state of Britain is not over-excitable?

    Yet pointing out all that is 'over-excitable'.

    That makes perfect sense.

    And, incidentally, that other comment didn't even mention this blog.

    ReplyDelete

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