Blinkin' media!!!

[jjc]

The whole of page 11 in the Daily Mail today is taken up by “Hell of Hallowe’en”, an article full of the terrors and evils of Hallowe’en.

It seems (according to the author) that, come October 31st, Britain will be besieged by “surley, slack-jawed ‘yoofs’” who, apparently, will be hunting in packs and hurling burning rags through peoples windows if they fail to give up their goodies on demand.

In cities, the article goes on, people will not know “whether the expression behind that Hallowe’en mask bears a friend’s impish smile or an enemy’s scowl”.

Has anybody out there ever actually had a brick or burning rag thrown through their window for turning away a gang of ‘yoofs’ at Halloween, or is this just another example of the media inciting fear with over-the-top language (“an enemy’s scowl” – I ask you?!?) to make sure we come back tomorrow and pay them again to tell us the latest woe???

[Mr Sensitive]

Hey jjc, what's a smart guy like you doing reading a dirty rag? :confused

[jjc]

Bored and lazy. There was a Guardian just out of arm's reach and I couldn't be bothered stretching. The Daily Mail was to hand...

[squidge]

The Daily Mail purports to be something more than it is. It is the News of the World with big words and it isnt as good as the News of the World.

Of course kids dressed up will shake a stick at those adults they dont like. They might even....horror of horrors...ring the bell and run away.

Kids have behaved like that for ever and to suggest that Hallowe'en brings with it something sinister and evil and dangerous is tabloid journalism at its worst.

jjc sweetie please dont quote them again it just annoys me...

[jjc]

It annoyed me too... that's why I quoted it :D

- although, there was quite an interesting article about US war crimes in Vietnam being covered up by the Nixon administration.

[Anonymous]

To see what can happen if a nation starts to take notice of all this kind of stuff rent/buy the film:

"Bowling for Columbine" by Michael Moore.

It certainly confirmed a few matters for me and gave me quite a few new things to ponder. :eek:

[jjc]

I doubt I would have thought twice about the article in the Mail before I saw that film. Certainly one to watch. (Michael Moore's books are well worth a read too.)

It's funny how much we simply accept as fact when it is presented in black and white or beamed in from a fancy studio.

I'm sure that Michael Moore takes it to an extreme, but you're right, Niall, it does start one pondering.

[Anonymous]

:evil Them posh papers are ok if you can read, i take the mirror its don't have big words in it, also its till a week on Friday, it must be like christmass that starts on on 1st of Jan :evil

[Anonymous]

jjc, I'm not so sure how extreme Michael Moore is, "if it bleeds, it leads", not a quote from Mr Moore...

The few times I see TV these days its getting more and more like that. Nothing good ever seems to make it to the newsrooms these days, unless its "and finally, a cat got stuck up a tree, awwwww how cute, goodnight". Or anything good is always shown to be bad in some way.

People these days seem to feel that evil lurks round every corner and every stranger is an axe murderer in disguise. The newspapers are worse, I dont waste any of my time or money on them. However, I do see them using their most powerful weapon against society every time I walk past them in the newsagents, innumeracy. Which begs the question, when did everyone lose the ability to count and become so gullable?

More and more as I go through life, the people I meet are becoming more and more zombie-like, only able to make conversation about what they saw on tv or read in the papers. Now, I dont get out that much, but I feel that I'm experincing more "real life" than any of these people. You only have to look at the tripe that they are being fed. Big brother, changing rooms, david blane, what does that change in your life? Nothing, its simply anesthetic for the nation, making sure we all act like good little drones and stay in our living rooms and out of the way until we're required to go to our pointless job and do something that no one will appreciate.

What's really funny is that we have a sensational reporter right on our doorstep. The reason why Ally "two-word-quotation" McGillvery hasnt been snapped up by the sunday sport is beyond me.

Next time you watch tv, concentrate hard on the newsreader, squint your eyes, wiggle your fingers in you ears and the real message comes clear:

"we are borg, resistance is futile!!!!"

[jjc]

More and more as I go through life, the people I meet are becoming more and more zombie-like, only able to make conversation about what they saw on tv or read in the papers.
Hmmm... having started this thread with a quote from the Daily Mail I'm not entirely sure if I should be offended or not ;)

[Anonymous]

and this doesn't worry you jjc?

are you starting to hear the rest of the collective chattering in your head????

"Resisitance is assimilated, you will be futile!!!!"

[jjc]

You’d best be careful. Our numbers are growing every day as more and more come and join us. Soon we shall rule the world and your petty resistance movement shall be quashed. Then you shall experience the pain and anguish that is 24-hr Sky News à la “Clockwork Orange”…

Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha
http://www.apcu29.dsl.pipex.com/smilies/drevil.gif

[rich]

I never watch news on TV.
For this very good reason: TV news is determined by the visuals. If it LOOKS like news it must be news! The corollary is that if the visuals are not so hot then news gets downgraded - even though it may be very important.
An interesting exercise is to go to the national library in Edinburgh and read some of the newspapers from the mid-19th century. Page after page of speeches from parliament - a surprising emphasis on sensational divorces involving the titled classes (the only people who could afford it then) and lots of excellent crime reporting. Ship wrecks were another popular item.
And then as now the endlessess doings of the Royals and reports from our brave lads overseas whacking little brown peoples.
The nearest thing to TV in the 1880s was the Illustrated London News - scads of beautiful drawings and sketches of events.
Including the opening of the Highland Railway and the visit to Thurso of that corpulent old lecher the Prince of Wales - who had parked his current mistress at Dunrobin Castle.
Does anyone in Caithness have that copy of the Illustrated London News? If so it should be on this web site. I think I can google up the date...maybe the University of Toronto Library has a copy....

[Mr Sensitive]

People these days seem to feel that evil lurks round every corner and every stranger is an axe murderer in disguise. The newspapers are worse, I dont waste any of my time or money on them. However, I do see them using their most powerful weapon against society every time I walk past them in the newsagents, innumeracy. Which begs the question, when did everyone lose the ability to count and become so gullable?
Innumeracy?

You may well be right, but I'm not sure what you're getting at when you claim the papers are using innumeracy as a weapon against "society". :confused

[jjc]

More and more as I go through life, the people I meet are becoming more and more zombie-like, only able to make conversation about what they saw on tv or read in the papers.

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/content_objectid=13431925_method=full_siteid=10669 4_headline=-FRAUDSTERS-EXPLOIT-LOCKERBIE-FOR-SCAM-name_page.html
I'm sorry, Niall. I see that you have already joined the fold and are simply partaking in a little misinformation for the cause - that's the spirit!!

I take it all back and you can sleep deeply, safe in the knowledge that there are no eye-drops or straight-jackets coming your way.

:D

---

Seriously though, the article in the Daily Mail incensed me because it was such a blatant attempt to incite fear. It annoyed me because it is, in my eyes, an affront to what news reporting should be about. It strayed from bringing people the truth and, instead, sensationalised what should be a happy night of fun, turning it into yet another reason why people should bolt their doors and hide from their neighbours.

However, I don't think it's terribly sensible to simply condemn ALL things media as tripe or subversive. An awful lot of people (myself most certainly included) are influenced by the media when they develop an opinion on something, but in today's global society I'm not sure how else we could operate.

Take, as an example, the war in Iraq. I know no Iraqis. I know none of the politicians involved in making the decisions – either in Westminster or in the UN. I have never met Saddam Hussein. Most of the decision making for this conflict was done behind closed doors and those people who leaked the information to the media after those meetings didn't then knock on my door to tell me what they knew. The only real source of information left to me was the media. Would you therefore suggest that I have no opinion on such an important matter because it isn't happening in my town?

It's true, absolutely, that the media is a minefield of opposing agendas and stacked reports (just look at the BBC/Campbell row). You need to find a balanced view by seeking reports from both sides of whatever argument you are interested in. Sometimes the bias is obvious (again, look at the BBC/Campbell row), other times you need to look a little harder. But common sense is usually enough to see you through.

If you don't put much faith in the media, don't read newspapers, and don't watch TV, then yes, you probably will have a lot more time for what you call 'real life'. But unless you have a VERY extensive circle of friends (including world leaders, military tacticians, international lawyers, scientific geniuses, and the bloke who rescued that cat that got stuck up the tree) you are cutting yourself off from the rest of the world - and that can't be a good thing.