You would have thought last month's riots in London and the events leading up to them were evidence enough of dangerous tensions within society. But it seems at least two UK tabloid newspapers are keen to create a little more fear and distrust within 'broken Britain', even if it means twisting the facts.
Read this Guardian report from the funeral of Mark Duggan, the North London man whose death last month sparked violence on the streets of Tottenham:
"...As mourners prepared to set off from the house, the bishop called them to stand on the pavement beside the wooden carriage... He urged the mourners to stretch their arms towards the carriage as he prayed."
And now see how the Daily Mail covered the same scene:
The Daily Mail in its initial report claimed its pictures showed a "chilling" "gangsta salute" which should strike fear into the hearts of British people. Its claims appear to have had the desired, divisive effect. More than 2,100 Mail readers voted this remark up to the top its comments section:
And it's not just Mail readers who were keen to believe the paper's dangerously misleading claims. Predictably the Express was quick to follow the Mail's lead - and headline - adding its further "chilling" observation that many of the mourners were "dressed in black":
Update: The Daily Mail has since toned down its headline and removed the mention of the "gangsta salute". The Express however is currently standing by the misleading claim:
Comments