The Media Blog

"Gangsta salute" or tabloid scaremongering?

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:

 

Dorries brands Osborne "immature and tacky" and "lacking in class" over smutty GQ speech

Earlier this week George Osborne was awarded 'Politician Of The Year' by GQ magazine. Equally shocking - to some at least - was his acceptance speech which included a slightly clumsily delivered joke about politicians and GQ readers being different kinds of "wankers":

One of the most outspoken critics of Osborne's line in playground humour is fellow Tory Nadine Dorries. Dorries has endured a week in which she saw her badly flawed arguments and ultimately dismissed ammendment on abortion derided by peers, colleagues and the British public.

But also this week she was humiliated by her own party leader who branded her "frustrated" to the enjoyment of all sides of a clearly innuendo-loving House of Commons. 

Now Dorries has belatedly attacked Osborne for his GQ acceptance speech, perhaps because it displayed the same brand of smutty humour so obviously enjoyed by Cameron.

Writing on her own blog today, Dorries proposed replacing Osborne: 

"With the arrival of the 2010 intake, the Conservative backbenches are full of incredibly smart and able young men who would make an excellent job of being Chancellor... They may also bring some much needed class and statesmanship to the role. I just hope no one else was watching and the shame of having such an immature and tacky Chancellor, is all ours."

Channel 4 athletics fiasco goes global

It seems Channel 4's now infamous athletics coverage has come to the attention of the world's media. In an article entitled 'A bumbling Britain looks ahead to 2012' the New York Times questions not only the performance of Britain's athletes but also its media at the World Championships:

"There has even been some British bumbling behind the cameras, with Ortis Deley, the lead presenter for the British broadcaster Channel 4, struggling with his names, dates and gravitas and actually getting demoted on Wednesday, which will come as a disappointment to those who have been gleefully posting his bloopers on YouTube his co-commentator, Michael Johnson, looks considerably less amused on camera)."

Regarding those YouTube clips, they appear to be quickly disappearing from the site suggesting that Channel 4 bosses are now working effectively behind the scenes to spare their own blushes and those of their presenter. If only they'd done so before the cameras started rolling.

Local news story of the day...

Bought some pasties from a 99p Store? Fed one to your young child? (Really?) Surprised to discover they weren't fresh? (Really, really?) Well even still, it's probably not worth telling the local newspaper. They'll have far bigger stories on the go. It's not like they're going to make it the front page lead.

Oh, what's that you say...

(Hat tips: Willard Foxton and Ian Stewart)