The Press And The Facts

[mrs_overall]

Long story, but a newspaper wanted to interview my daughter this week. I read the article yesterday and apart from spelling her name correctly, they have got just about every single fact wrong.
The article was about an event that happened on a Saturday and she was filmed for a National Geographic tv programme. The article got the event wrong, the date wrong, said she would be featured in NatGeo magazine AND attributed a quote to her that she never said.
I emailed the journalist who sent me a reply saying he felt sorry for me as I obviously viewed life in a negative manner! Bloody cheek!
I guess the media never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.

[emmie]

press getting matters wrong, now there's a first.........

[mrs_overall]

It must be part of their training under the heading of How to Distort the Facts

[albaqwerty]

If the journo wants to be taken seriously, s/he won't last long.
Was it a local rag?
Not that it matters, but blooming typical.

[mrs_overall]

alba, sorry but I have to be vague about this as I don't want my daughter and I identifying on here

[emmie]

i have written letters to our local paper, it's not exactly the same thing, but they have edited them to a point where they don't make sense or indeed whatever point i was making.

[albaqwerty]

wouldn't have it any other way Mrs O, privacy is paramount.
Was just casually wondering if it was a silly young journo or one trying to be respected as a serious reporter (if that makes any sense!)

[mrs_overall]

It was an established journalist alba

I was once asked to write an article for our local paper. They printed it word for word with no editing....and put a journalists name and photo with it as if he had written it

[bibblebub]

Is there a rival paper you could contact because they'd probably be glad to show up any errors in a rival's coverage?

[albaqwerty]

blooming 'eck Mrs O!!

Nice idea Bibble.

[mrs_overall]

Good idea bibble but the daughter is so disillusioned that I think her first encounter with the press is likely to be her last

[emmie]

i would have sued the journo for plagiarism...

[sandyRoe]

That would be no bad thing, Mrs O. The press seem to be a load of scoundrels. At the highest level they were intimidation politicians with the unspoken threat that they might look into their lives, while at the same time cosying up to governments. The rest of us they treat like dirt.

[mrs_overall]

Sandy, I agree

[Svejk]

Morning MrsO. X
I often write witty,intelligent,prescient posts on here.
And by the time they appear they've turned into the rantings of an unedukated lunatic.

[DrFilth]

mrs_overall now you have seen it first hand will you still trust the press when you read about how much the family on benefits is getting or any other reports ?

[naomi24]

Mrs O, that sort of plagiarism is not unknown - in fact it happens a lot. Perhaps you should contact the editor directly with your complaints.

[emmie]

svejk, in good company then...

[mrs_overall]

naomi the plagarism was a few years ago. I simply refused to write anything for them again

Morning sweaty xx
You are not an uneducated lunatic.....I would have said semi-educated

Dr Filth, I take it all with a large pinch of salt, unless it is the Sunday Sport which is always truthful, particularly on stories relating to double decker buses found on the moon and people being abducted by aliens

[Svejk]

I often see articles in the D Mirror, middle of the week, named journo that have been lifted,practically word for word from the previous S Times.
I often thought 'what a nerve, I could do that'
Do journos use different names in different papers?
Sounds the sort of thing they used to get up to.

[DrFilth]

some of the sport staff use to go for a drink across the road from their offices on ancoats lane into the land o cakes pub -)