Following previous conversations about Sheffield not being featured in the news, tonight's ITV national news had a fairly lengthy (by news standards) report on the serious drug problem in Sheffield. There was a few clips of West Street and the narrator informed us that the high profile policing was working well. They failed to mention that it only lasted for 6 weeks and finished over a month ago - I guess news travels slowly from the North to South... ;)

Anyone else see it?

Interesting, because S.Yorks police maintain that Sheffield doesn't have half the drug problems of similar sized and bigger cities in UK. I'm looking for the quote atm.

Nice of them to choose Sheffield for a bad story that will tarnish its name, when infact Sheffield has one of, if not the lowest crime rate of the major cities.

Yeah, what did the ITV narrator say at the very start? Something about more drugs being seized in Sheffield than any other city. The police could argue that shows how great they are, or it could suggest there is so much of the stuff it's not too hard to catch someone with some!

I suppose if its true that Sheffield is the worse offender for drugs then its right it should be portrayed that way but Sheffield rarely gets a positive mention in the media and its that what should also be addresed.

Unfortunately you don't often get "news" and "positive story" in the same sentence. I think I posted something a while back about how sick I was that the news was always so negative. However, it's not like they are just picking on Sheffield - Leeds was in the news a lot last year with all the shootings and of course there was Liverpool (Merseyside) - I guess we were next in the queue ;)

Originally posted by geoffbowen
Yeah, what did the ITV narrator say at the very start? Something about more drugs being seized in Sheffield than any other city.

You've got to wonder when they use an unqualified comparison like that. Typical journalese phrase "more drugs" doesn't actually mean very much unless it is qualified (not something I've come to expect from TV news I must admit)

More Seizures?
More Tonnage?
More Doses?
More Street Value?

example: police seize 10 kilos of cocaine - this is one seizure, 10,000 wraps or portions, 10000 grams, £50,000 street value (absolute max)

police somewhere else seize 30 grams of LSD crystals - this is 300,000 tabs or portions, 30 grams, £750,000 street value (abs max)

police somewhere else seize 500kg of imported cannabis - one seizure, 15,000 "eighths" or portions, 500,000 grams £280,000 street value (abs max)

Which seizure is of the most drugs?

[edited for clarity and maths check (still not sure about the maths on this one, but I don't think there are any glaring errors)

Yes, I also laughed to myself when I heard that.

I guess it was my fault for watching ITV news! That "more drugs" quote was something straight out of a "Tonight with Trevor McDonald" show - which as we all know - is at the cutting edge of professional journalism ;)

Its on this page (http://www.itv.com/news/VideoReports.html) as of 21:55pm

I tried copying the link for real player but it didnt work. :(

what's the quote? lies, lies & more statistics. or vice versa. whatever, as someone who has worked in a "multi agency" (GOD DON'T YOU HATE THAT PHRASE) organisation with the police and the council (not in sheffield) I know how you can make the figures say what you want them to say.

Believe what you like . . . .

Could it also mean that Sheffield drug dealers are particularly thick.

Originally posted by blondee
what's the quote? lies, lies & more statistics. or vice versa. whatever, as someone who has worked in a "multi agency" (GOD DON'T YOU HATE THAT PHRASE) organisation with the police and the council (not in sheffield) I know how you can make the figures say what you want them to say.

Believe what you like . . . .
it's

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics." Benjamin Disraeli

for some reason far from not featuring sheffield enough when its something like this they seem to feature it more eg that traffic cops programme. This is plainly unfair when if you look at the crime statistics sheffield is the safest and least major crime-ridden large city in the uk and this drugs quote is pure rubbish...its crack problem for example is tiny compared with places like London Birmingham or Manchester and the reason why its such a tempting target for gangs from otrher cities who see it as "untapped territory".

Sounds like the sheffield old bill are just very accomodating(like publicity) to the telly people

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
it's

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics." Benjamin Disraeli

LOL, mate - you either know far too much, or are incredibly proficient with Google :)

Originally posted by gloworm
for some reason far from not featuring sheffield enough when its something like this they seem to feature it more eg that traffic cops programme. This is plainly unfair when if you look at the crime statistics sheffield is the safest and least major crime-ridden large city in the uk and this drugs quote is pure rubbish...its crack problem for example is tiny compared with places like London Birmingham or Manchester and the reason why its such a tempting target for gangs from otrher cities who see it as "untapped territory".

Sounds like the sheffield old bill are just very accomodating(like publicity) to the telly people
Also, if the SYPF can get the message accross that they have a serious problem then they are in a better position to ask for more funds to police the city.

Originally posted by Hodge
LOL, mate - you either know far too much, or are incredibly proficient with Google :)

A search for "lies, damn lies and statistics" on google gave the Disraeli source 2nd on the list of results. I thought it was Mark Twain.

Confirmed the citation at www.quotations.co.uk

I don't know about incredibly proficient, but I do use google constantly as a replacement for my brain

The number of lazy journalists that do exactly the same is quite staggering. Often you will see old internet urban myths reprinted as "did you know" stories in the papers, not to mention coverage of more serious events too.

Even the government probably used google to find that old PhD thesis used in the dodgy dossier!

thanks for the correction Phanerothyme!!!! Was difficult to remember after the third beer!

It's hard enough for Sheffield to shake off it's reputation as a 'dirty' industrial town!!!

Did anyone see Top Gear a couple of weeks ago when Jeremy Clarkson took the new Nissan 300SX for a ride up at Attercliffe? Made Sheffield look DISGUSTING!

We need someone in the media to like Sheffield, please!

Originally posted by geoffbowen
Unfortunately you don't often get "news" and "positive story" in the same sentence.

To be fair, Calendar almost always ends on a good news story. I make a habit of watching it every night to show my other half how great it really is in Yorkshire!

Originally posted by Rican
It's hard enough for Sheffield to shake off it's reputation as a 'dirty' industrial town!!!

Did anyone see Top Gear a couple of weeks ago when Jeremy Clarkson took the new Nissan 300SX for a ride up at Attercliffe? Made Sheffield look DISGUSTING!

We need someone in the media to like Sheffield, please!

Jeremy is from Rotherham (or at least, he worked on the local newspapar there). I think he was just taking the mick.

Mind you, I think a lot of regional programmes are made by teams from Manchester and Leeds - so it is in their interests to ignore the positive aspects of Sheffield.

Don't expect them to do it for us - we need local media teams to do it.

they never caught me:Dcos im a good lad:hihi: