Putting a Leash on Tabloids?

[Ned Ludd 10]

So the Santa banned from shopping centres story was fabricated?

The suicidal(?) driver responsible for the Berks derailment has been described as being drunk, drugged and naked at the wheel......all fabrications.

Colin Stagg was found not guilty of the murder of Rachel Nickell but had the tabloids inferring he had cheated justice, got off on a technicality.

The Sun reported that UK bases in Cyprus were under threat by Iraqi chemical weapons..... an outright lie.

The same paper reported that Liverpool supporters had urinated on and looted corpses at Hillsborough...more outright lies.

The list is endless. These "papers" do immense damage, should they be regulated in some way?

[JoeP 11]

PLus ca change.....

 

Twenty years ago there was a similar litany of tabloid crimes - there was a study done by the Glasgow University Media Department that resulted in a book about the tabloids and some suggestions as to how they might be bought to book.

 

However, whilst I might damn the tabloids for what they print, it's important to remember that we're not compelled to read them. The fact that many people do and get their only view of the world from the tabloids indicates that we probably need to have people educated in the use of the media as much as anything else.

 

And just as the tabloids peddle one world view, the 'up market' papers peddle another one which may be more 'truthful' (or less obviously biased) but still has a 'line' to push.

 

For every Sun editorial there is a Guardian column telling it's readers to write to voters in Ohio and tell them to vote Kerry rather than Bush.

 

Television is equally bad; the media has clearly fallen out with Blair and takes what opportunities it can to make capital out of the issues that surround him.

 

I'm not sure that 'red top' readers always take what they're told seriously; I work in an office at teh moment populated with a mixture of Times, Guardian, Sun and Mirror readers. We alll swap papers and are all aware that each paper has it's own agenda.

 

Joe

[evildrneil 14]

Yes they do do considerable damage - and not always from outright fabrications. One of the things I abhor most about tabloids is their hypocracy - for example how many times have you seen an article foaming about 'paedophiles free in the comunity to prey on your kids' oppisite a page three 'model' or picture of the latest catwalk supermodel who looks about 12? That being said theres little you can do without removing the freedom of the media and once you do that its only a short distance to censorship and propaganda rather than news. Now I know some people will claim this is what we have already, and I suppose to an extent thats true but it could be so much worse!

[max 13]

On the theme of hypocrisy (and swapping newspapers as it's not mine, honest), in today's Daily Star there's a piece slagging off Paris Hilton for her fake tan and obsession with media exposure. Turn to the centre pages and , ooh look, it's a double page spread on Paris Hilton.

 

PS for the non-redtops among us, Paris Hilton is not a hotel.

[venger 10]

Listening to a prgramme on Radio 4 yesterday describing how 1 man had been alienated almost completely by his local community because the tabloids portrayed him guilty even before trial.

 

At trial he was found not guilty, the damage remains but will not relocate his home on principal.

 

Tabloids can be useful, they helped greatly in the Ian Huntley case I believe, they do also destroy lives.

 

Who do you blame, publisher or audience?

[venger 10]

No did not quite have you down as a Daily star reader max.

[JoeP 11]

The hypocrisy issue is another long runner, and, yes, probably worse than the lies.

 

However, people buy them. If people didn't buy them, publishers wouldn't publish them.

 

Joe

[Foxxx 10]

A friend of my family was involved in a scandal years ago, except it was nothing to do with him it was someone else working for him. The Sun, reported the story and as a result, he found himself out of a job and bankrupted, his business ruined. He sued the paper and they had to admit they had accused him falsely and gave him a payout plus printed a tiny apology. The point is, the paper did what it wanted, blatantly lied. The money he got, didn't get his reputation back or his business as he has a stigma linked to his name, even though he did nothing. No one noticed the apology in the paper. Years later he is still suffering as a result.

[A.B.Yaffle 24]

Originally posted by max

PS for the non-redtops among us, Paris Hilton is not a hotel.

 

I must confess, I did think Paris Hilton was a hotel until my fiancee corrected me a few days ago!

[fyybj 10]

There isn't enough independant media around, the media has a very important role to play in informing people about current affairs etc but instead they produce blatent lies and propaganda in order to keep the cash rolling in. However, the public has a responsibility in that they should not allow to be spoonfed misinformation to them from a single source.

[chill 10]

Originally posted by venger

Tabloids can be useful, they helped greatly in the Ian Huntley case I believe...

 

Interesting you bring up the Huntley case. My aunt was deputy head at the childrens' school, and the Mirror, presumably trying to find another angle from which to exploit their deaths, wanted to interview her. She refused, so they just pretended they'd interviewed her instead, and ran a full page story, not a word of which was true! It's really kind of pathetic.

[chill 10]

Originally posted by fyybj

There isn't enough independant media around, the media has a very important role to play in informing people about current affairs etc but instead they produce blatent lies and propaganda in order to keep the cash rolling in. However, the public has a responsibility in that they should not allow to be spoonfed misinformation to them from a single source.

 

I think we are very lucky though these days to have the proliferation of blogs that cover politics and world affairs. They are not motivated by money (yet) and so don't have to resort to the tactics of the red tops to generate "news". Of course, they are nearly all pretty biased towards the beliefs of the author(s) so the same caveats about not getting all your info from a single source applies, but they undeniably add extra angles that simply aren't covered by the "mainstream" press.