This is a great point and is getting more and more widespread in all forms of journalism. The problem is that news is a 24 hour business now so anything that TV stations or printed press can get a headline from is turned into a story. The one thing that disgusts me more than anything is the constant 3 times a week'sensational new twist' 'shocking new evidence' etc etc in the Madelaine McCann case.
About 2 months ago almost every red top led with the front page'Madelaine pic sensation' which was quite simply a blonde haired girl being carried by her mother in Morocco, the papers blew this out of all proportion until 2 days later when it was proven that the girl was in fact wait for it... a blonde haired girl being carried by her mother in Morocco. With absolutely no shame they then had 2 days of 'Madelaine hopes dashed' and 'Parents hopes dashed' when in fact nothing at all relevent to the case had happened but they had managed to turn a no news piece into 4 days of 'sensational' front page headlines.
It isn't just news that is going down the pan either, sports news channels are now inventing 'events' and 'stories' to fill time and sell events. Think 'Grand Slam Sunday' what an embarrassment that was, after 5 Min's of constant grand slam references they showed a 'Grand Slam' league as if that was actually a real league when it is simply a marketing phrase that they have invented to get bigger headlines for 2 football matches. I turned over and watched it in Spanish just to avoid the whole ridiculous Sky coverage.
I have tried, for months, to "bite my tongue" on the incredible media manipulation in the very sad case of the McCann's daughter. But Bobby is so right, never has Media manipulation & hype been so savagely & mercilessly exploited as in this case.
The McCann's fearure on the front page of the Red Tops & the incredibly bland Daily Mail at least 4 times a week - & yet never once it is "news", it's all total tosh & speculation.
"The detective hired by the McCann's knows who abducted the little girl & will be named with 3 days" is routine, that one surfaces every fortnight. There is not a shred of substance to that tale.
The McCanns only rarely give Interviews or direct quotes. Instead, the media is fed titbits (or just makes them up) by "a close family friend", "their advisers", "a relative of the McCanns", "their PR advisers", & so on & so forth. The Portugese Police do the same, of course. "A source close the the investigation said".......
Do the Media really think we are that dumb? (Rhetorical).
Trying to find genuine "news" is not easy these days. Very few Newspapers do it (The Times & The Daily Telegraph are the least worst, but even they are at it now), & I believe that most Newspapers will soon become extinct, victims of their own stupidity, & their naivety in not realising that their time has passed. I don't include Red-Tops under the description of "Newspapers", they are simply vehicles for carrying advertisements.
google, with free unbiased educational tools, maps, "earth", images, & in particular, their ingenious advertising ploys which will obliterate traditional advertising mediums within 5 years, will soon rule the world.
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