It seems like the sheffield star has really dumbed down in the last few years what do you think.

I used to like reading it, but I find it rather tedious now.
Why do you think it's a 'scare monger ?'

because they are more intrested in headlines than facts,they don't appear to research issues,they just go for the cheap shot

I think the paper has gone down hill too. Also, I've never seen so much left wing rubbish in all my life. I only ever buy it now for the jobs on a Thursday

I only buy the Stars on thursday also. just for searchings jobs.....

All local papers do a bit of scaremongering. Just like the nationals. It's called attention seeking!

I dont think the Star are nowhere near as extreme as the normal tabloids/media. IMO

On a similar vein, ITV's evening news at 6.30pm seems to have taken TV news programs to a new level of sensationalism in recent months. Their lead story nowadays seems to be anything but the popular headline of the day, instead concentrating on their 'exclusive' and sometimes scaremongering scoop. Long live the BBC :cool:

Well, it does promote itself as a campaigning newspaper these days so it may go a bit over the top with screaming headlines with certain stories......

However I do find it reasonably palatable and covers local news and issues reasonably well, and in a readable style and layout, when you compare it to other local papers across the UK.

Would you rather it be like some of the national tabloids, for example the Daily Mail - or Daily HATE mail as some know it, with it's right wing extremism, or the Sun, which aspires to appear to be written by white van man, or the Dail Star, which is simply a scandal rag? I think a local version of any of those would be rather tedious.

One good thing in the Star is Wednesday's food & drink column, always enjoy that.

Haven't read The Star in over 45 years. It was becoming total bilge then and I would very much doubt that it has improved in the meantime.

One good thing in the Star is Wednesday's food & drink column, always enjoy that.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that post mdawes. Isn't the Star's Wednesday food and drink column written by one mdawes?

On a similar vein, ITV's evening news at 6.30pm seems to have taken TV news programs to a new level of sensationalism in recent months. Their lead story nowadays seems to be anything but the popular headline of the day, instead concentrating on their 'exclusive' and sometimes scaremongering scoop. Long live the BBC :cool:

ITV are determined to 'create' their own news. They do some 'research' on something they want to make a big deal of and then put it as the headline news for a week. Did you see when the new drinking laws were coming in, they made a big deal in the run up to it, heavily suggesting that anti-social behaviour was going to go through the roof. Their coverage of it was very quietly dropped once it became clear that it wasn't the case.

Regarding the Star - I have never rated it as a paper. Not so much for the sensationalist headlines (which I do think they are guilty of), but for the shoddy standard of writing and editing. I can't believe that a supposedly award-winning newspaper doesn't spot when an article has just stopped mid-sentence (an example of which I seem to find each time on the few occasions I read it). And from dealing with their recruitment advertising department (in my professional capacity) they are useless. You send them an ad, exactly as it needs to appear (right size and everything), but they still manage to send a proof back with entirely different text to what you sent! Sometimes I have had to tell them 3 or 4 times before errors are rectified. Wouldn't mind so much if it didn't cost £1,000 for the smallest of ads!

Not keen on the Star..........if I buy a paper its usually the Sheffield Telegraph or the Independent.

Just like looking at the interior of people's houses in the property guide!

Oh, and the Peak Advertiser (freebie paper every two weeks). Best free ads around IMO. Very short on news too, except "crimefile". Sheep stolen, fence broken, muddy tracks, police believe no connection between events, etc.:hihi:

I think the Star is ok, I like the letters page, and the sports page for updates on the Blades.. also i was suprised Martin Dawes printed me in Sheffield,Vermont, as i sent him 4 pictures, and even on broadband it took about 15 mins to send! (i bet he was chuffed when he opened up outlook exp)

(also, has anyone noticed, its the same people that write in the letters all the time!!)

I stopped buying it a few years ago as it seamed to be going down hill and becoming teadious,so i read the online addition and save a bit of cash in the process.

is the Pope a little bit religious?

All local papers do a bit of scaremongering. Just like the nationals. It's called attention seeking!
Not only local but world wide trash ,Its been a long time since i looked at a decent paper who just reported the truth,theres always some political puppeter pulling the strings in the background.

It's crap.
I stopped reading it after the big clamp down on Pros leaving their business cards in telephone boxes.
Big front page headlines on the evils of prostitution and loads of ads for tarts in the personal pages.
Not worth reading.

I think the Star is ok, I like the letters page, and the sports page for updates on the Blades.. also i was suprised Martin Dawes printed me in Sheffield,Vermont, as i sent him 4 pictures, and even on broadband it took about 15 mins to send! (i bet he was chuffed when he opened up outlook exp)

(also, has anyone noticed, its the same people that write in the letters all the time!!)

Susan Richardson of Westminster estate, Lodgemoor is always writing about pigeons!
There's loads of printing errors- either that or the "journalists" dont know their spelling and grammar
Sheffield Telegraph sums up the whole week of goings on in Sheffield - no need for the Star.

I don't read it very often but there is always a letter that starts "I'd like to say thankyou to the person who...." followed by something horrible like "shot me/stabbed me/mugged me/stole my dog", it would be so funny if the person who did it wrote in the next day saying "Don't mention it".

Here is a great game to play in conjunction with the letters page of the Star - it's called Tunbridge Wells Bingo....

Tunbridge Wells Bingo


A glimpse into the world of people with far too much time on their hands.

Local newspapers, eh? They're a rum old lot and no mistake. But nothing angries up the blood like the letters pages, full of insane old women ranting about how the council still haven't fixed her toilet seat, and how her seven dogs are morally obliged to crap on the grass verge, in other people's gardens and possibly in other people's mouths.

Every day there'll be a letter that takes your breath away. Pompous, self-aggrandising and sniffy, it'll make you gasp that there are people out there so bonkers and so utterly deluded they think people care what they have to say on the subject of unemptied wheelie bins. And they are always right-wingers claiming to be conservative "with a small C". Let us therefore mock them.

Score the given number of points for spotting the following in your chosen letter

Instance of Idiocy & Points Scored

SUBJECTS

> Fireworks 10
> Wheelie bins 15
> Dog poo and / or litter 25
> The first cuckoo of spring 25
> The young people of today 30
> The old people of today don't understand the young people of today 30
> Rambling anecdote about childhood with no payoff. 30
> How early Christmas cards appear in shops, plus bonus points for inevitable "what next, easter eggs in november?" joke 40 (+20 for bonus)
> Old woman thanking people for picking up her oranges when she tripped over her own tits, and variants thereon. 40
> "To the lowlife scum who stole my child's lemons from outside the museum where he was collecting for big charities, shame on you. Do you feel good about yourself? Do you sleep well at night? Do you? DO YOU? Eh? Eh?" 40
> Writer is under the impression that local government exists to do everything for them, including wiping their arse, and if there's any evidence to the contrary then democracy has failed entirely 50
> Demanding that someone in the news who has money must give some to charity, despite knowing nothing about that person and their history of charitable donations 60
> Subject unclear - you honestly don't have a clue what the writer is talking about 75

WORDS

> ...youth of today... 10
> ...waste of money... 10
> ...disgusted... 15
> ...foul-mouthed... 20
> ...shocked and appalled... 25
> ...sick and tired... 25
> ...yobs... 25
> ...ghastly... 25
> ...so-called... 30
> ...slippery slope... 30
> ...common sense... 40
> ...dumbing down... 50
> So,... 50
> I am writing... 50
> What next? 50
> ...is political correctness gone mad! 100

ARGUMENTS

> Absurd logic - eg suggesting that to want to abolish royal family is equivalent to wanting to bring back Hitler 75
> Vast and dumb over-simplification and stereotyping - "I saw a child spit, therefore every child is a vicious thug." 75
> Bad Thing A is acceptable because Bad Thing B is worse - eg dog poo is acceptable because human litter is more widespread 75
> Trying the old "It is therefore clear that...", missing out whopping great steps of their argument in the process 75
> Blatant instance of "They don't share my opinion and therefore they are wrong." 75
> Crap extrapolation - usually a nightmare future is derived from a perfectly innocent development, eg "I see scientists have cured cancer. What next? Robots taking over the world?" 75
> Missing the point in spectacular fashion 25 only, due to ubiquity

SIGNING OFF

> Using job / organisation in title 10
> Humorous "Yours..." 25
> Pompous "Yours..." 30
> Description instead of name (e.g. Disgruntled Pensioner, Nottingham) 40
> Writer lives in Tunbridge Wells 50
> Military rank for no reason 50
> Initial(s) instead of first name 50
> "name and address withheld" (or initials only) for no reason 75
> Member of Young Conservatives 100

ADDITIONAL SCORING

> Useless spelling / grammar 10 for each instance.
> More than one exclamation mark used at once 50 per mark
> Small lie 50
> Outrageous lie 25 (less than small lie due to entertainment value)
> Casual xenophobia or sexism, usually accompanied by political correctness rant or a surreal belief in their own towering common sense 50
> "an historic", "an hotel", "an horrific use of language", or similar 50
> Letter results in weaselly reply, possibly from director of rubbish bus company 50
> Whiney letter is printed in more than one local newspaper, plus bonus for actually admitting this 50 (+25 for bonus)
> Flat attempt at humorous postscript 50

Note: If any of the above are used by writer quoting someone else in order to argue against them, it doesn't count. Remember - it is the idiocy of the writer him or herself you are scoring.

So, there you have it. Now you are fully equipped to seek and destroy other people's useless, cretinous opinions, and sit back in your chair smugly knowing that you are the greatest person ever.

I buy The Star 2-3 times a week. It's one of the brighter and better regional/local evening papers. It runs stories which hold the local council to account, eg the campaign on traffic gridlock a couple of months ago.

It runs stories which hold the local council to account, eg the campaign on traffic gridlock a couple of months ago.

which achieved so much, the traffic is moving so much more smoothly now.

The problem in some cases is the council come up with inititiatives and make a half-arsed job of it, such as bus lanes that aren't enforced,bus gates that don't let buses through and one way systems that generate more traffic!

Every day there'll be a letter that takes your breath away. Pompous, self-aggrandising and sniffy, it'll make you gasp that there are people out there so bonkers and so utterly deluded they think people care what they have to say on the subject of unemptied wheelie bins. And they are always right-wingers claiming to be conservative "with a small C". Let us therefore mock them.

Here's an example from tonight's paper of what you are mocking in your apparently snooty Guardianesque sort of way:
"I would like to thank the four young men who very kindly gave up their seats to my husband and myself on Friday afternoon, March 23 in the Frenchgate Centre. As we approached the seat, one of them asked if we wanted to sit down to which I replied we wouldn't mind. Immediately, not one, but all four got up. I did thank them at the time but was so surprised at the very rare occasion I felt I hadn't thanked them enough. So, if you are reading this lads, thank you very much for your kindness, courtesy and respect for two elderly people. Credit to you all. Even a gentleman passing by remarked on your kind gesture".
I expect youths hurling stones at tram windows is more your bag: as a sign of the progressive society in action.

i can't see how it "scare mongers" but it is just simply rubish!!

typical headline story:

- Outrage as local man trips whilst running
- 85 YO resident looses glasses, then finds them again
- 12 YO boy gets first pube
- local school girls wins school spelling test
- man buys kitkat, only to find it had no wafer inside
- Dog runs away, and then comes back again
- single mum takes child to nursery
- new super tram doors to be painted red

More headlines.

Fury! Evil parking attendent slaps fine on unemployed Marks(44) car for parking in a Bus layby whilst in local shop buying lottery ticket.
Fury! local man buys lottery ticket and does not win.
Fury! local man fined £80 for dropping non winning lottery ticket on floor.
(Que picture of man looking sad and a mention of an illness and how he has 3 kids also in picture who will now have to starve).
Fury! Nazi council employee sends out eviction notice to Mark ******(44) for not paying rent for the last 6 months.Mark(44) replied to letter (Via the Star not direct to the council)How can i be expected the pay rent and support my wife and 3 kids (one asmatic)and feed my lottery habit,the council seam to have it in for "hard working families".


Fury! Star van fined for parking in bus layby whilst delivering the evening addition to local shop.(With headline news...Fury as council take a tough approach on people parking in bus laybys.)

[QUOTE=angle20]Here's an example from tonight's paper of what you are mocking in your apparently snooty Guardianesque sort of way: QUOTE]

A borderline 40 pointer there. The thing is, why write to the newspaper to thank them for that.....? Were they too shocked at the time to thank them personally? And is it really a big issue of the day?

- man buys kitkat, only to find it had no wafer inside

I once had an Aero with no bubbles in it, I wish I'd written in now :(

I can imagine a picture of me looking grumpy outside a newsagent holding-up an Aero.

Realy, we should be thankfull that a cat up a tree is front page news in the Star, would you rather have headlines like "3 shot dead in city nightclub" or "Drug and gang violence on the increase" etc. etc.

Yes, we will go and live in a nice city wouldn't we.....!

The Star is too biased towards Wednesday. :(

Typical Star headline,
Outrage as council runs health and safety checks.
Well well theres the council being irresponsible again.

Paul Licence,
One third of a page writing about dog poo.I vote him journo of the year.Maybe he could go into tv.