3 April 2011

The truth will out, eh, Daily Mail/ Mail on Sunday?

Monday March 28th 2011

Less than a week ago, I wrote a piece about the lurid headline in the Daily Mail  which suggested that Gordon Brown had heartlessly ousted a heavily pregnant fellow passenger from her seat on a flight so that he could enjoy the extra luxury.


It was clear from the article itself inside the paper that there was no truth in the headline's assertion, but a long article had been built around this lie which was a lightly veiled personal attack on Gordon Brown and his P.A.


Today's Mail on Sunday carries an apology, more fulsome an apology than this tabloid is wont to proffer, small in size compared to the prominence of the original accusatory front page headline, but an apology nonetheless. (With thanks to @Harryb22 of Twitter for having sharper eyes than mine to find it this morning!)
Mail on Sunday, April 3rd 2011

A small victory for those who would like to see more accountability brought to bear on certain sections of the press to ensure the veracity of what they report.

Pandering to the most undesirable traits of human beings to increase circulation of newspapers is, in the end, a destructive exercise. 

The recent collapse of two newspapers with very questionable ethics, details here: Sports Media Group Suspends Trading is perhaps a warning to the tabloids and the media in general that sensational misrepresentation of people and facts is increasingly not what readers appreciate!