Why you shoud never trust "the press"

[VHG]

I got a good example recently why you should never trust (some of) the press.

Something unusual happened to a relative of mine recently. A "friend" took a couple of pictures, and without my relative knowing the "friend" contacted one of the tabloid newspapers.

A journalist contacted my relative, but the relative said they would rather the story was NOT put in the paper, and gave him no quotes at all.

Then last weekend the story appeared in the newspaper, with a couple of photographs, and all sorts of "quotes" attributed to them that my relative had never made.

This may have longer term implications for my relative and they may even lose his job because of this.

It seems the journalist and newspaper could not care less.

So the next time you "get annoyed" at a newspaper article, or perhaps think "how stupid they said that" just think to yourself, how much truth is behind the story.

[Davethedog]

Some bloke call Noah is building an Ark - something about a flood.

[Davethedog]

VHG - sorry realised that looks a bit..

[R1Geezer]

and that's supposed to surprise us VHG! The press care only about sales, end of.

[jno]

indeed; I'm always amazed that people not only read their stories, they believe them and rant about them on AB as if they were all somehow true. But it's said that everyone believes the newspapers... until the first time a paper runs a story they actually know something about. (In fairness, this is mostly about the tabloids: Sun, Star, Mail, Express, Mirror and their Sunday versions).

Have a look at this:

http://nosleeptilbroo...-mail-lies-guest.html

[Kromovaracun]

I agree, but I have to be honest here - I think it's a little sad that it took such a personal/close-to-home anecdote for you to realise it. There's long been ample evidence of press unreliability in most dailies available for those who care to look, so I think it's a little sad that it takes someone to come up and talk about how one of their relatives was screwed over for that to be realised.

[Gromit]

I had something similar happen to me about 30 years ago which may account for my skeptism of the press.

A chemical factory blew Up behind my house and a journalist was approaching us on lookers watching the firebrigade put out the fire. The journalist asked me if I had seen the explosion and I said no, I had just heard a bang and when I looked out of the window I saw smoke. The journalist moved on and I thought nothing of it. Later that day I Got a call from a friend asking if I was alright, and had I seen the Evening paper. When I read it, there were made up quotes attributed to me. My throwaway line about just hearing a bang had become "There was a huge fireball 200 feet high, and my whole flat shook!" I should have complained to the papers editor at the time but I was just bemused. It taught me a lesson early on not to believe everything in the newspapers.

Sadly, as is evident in the AB News Section, a lot of peOple take it all in as gospel truth.

[rockyracoon]

My father in law always says "believe none of what you read and half of what you see". Probably not wrong.

[Huderon]

The PCC is only of any use when the paper you are complaining about is signed up to them. Currently the Daily Express is not, so if you have a complaint about them, you have to deal directly with the paper.