Sunday, December 09, 2007

Sunday Times in Hitler Faking (Haven't We Been Here Before?)

The Sunday Times has been taken for a ride today by a 'video masher' called Chris Bowley, who has used the film DOWNFALL to describe the horrors of Spurs losing 3-1 to Arsenal. The video on Youtube has been viewed 40,000 times in its first week. See full story HERE.



What the Sunday Times article doesn't tell you is that this is a blatant rip-off of a similar video made in August, showing Hitler reacting to Sheffield United's relegation from the Premiership. So it's all a bit olds new really.



This story covered half of page 7 of today's Sunday Times. Obviously a bit of a light news day. It's not the first time the Sunday Times has been duped by overhyped a Hitler story. Remember the forged Hitler diaries?!

UPDATE: As Peter Harrison points out in the comments, the article does make mention of other versions of DOWNFALL which have appeared on the net, but my point was that this is not news - it is at best a feature, I'd have thought. But what do I know. I'm only a blogger, after all.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Iain, as a West Ham fan, I expected you to make the most of the fact it was WEST HAM who beat Spurs, thus helping my team (Arsenal) finish 4th...

thanks again for your teams classy win...

Anonymous said...

ok, I just looked at this and it is arsenal beating spurs... but the one i saw was of west ham winning last season to stop spurs from getting 4th... thought you would want to remind everyone of that...

Manfarang said...

Schtonk!

Anonymous said...

I've also seen spoofs of this clip from "Downfall" doctored with subtitles about a computer game and also with subtitles aobut a make of car.

It's starting to become a cliche. Unlike the original film "Downfall" which is brilliant.

Richard Havers said...

I take issue above all else on the fact that Spurs are the victims!

Anonymous said...

I remember seeing Andrew Neil recall the saga of the fake Hitler diaries sometime ago, saying that Murdoch instructed him, "Fuck it Andrew, this is showbiz - we publish!".

It's no wonder that media organisations are never willing to oppose war...

Anonymous said...

Ian - I suggest you read the article again and read it properly this time.

The Sunday Times does NOT suggest that this is the original version of the video. Indeed, it specifically states that it isn't. And this one wasn't made by Chris Bowley, nor does the Sunday Times suggest that it was.

The article correctly credits Bowley with the version in which Hitler discovers that Microsoft has cancelled his Xbox online account. The quotes from him refer to that version, but they do not claim that Bowleys' version was the original either.

The article specifically (and, I believe, correctly) credits a version made by one Smokey McPot in which Hitler's car is lost as the original. It doesn't mention the Sheffield United relegation version but nor does it claim to be a comprehensive list of mash-ups using this clip.

The Sunday Times is sometimes guilty of sloppy journalism but not here and they have clearly not been duped by Bowley or anyone else.

If you are going to accuse someone else of sloppy journalism, it is really a basic minimum requirement that you get your facts right and don't mis-report what they said.

Anonymous said...

The Hitler Diaries were of course validated by the famous Lord Dacre, aka Hugh Trevor-Roper. The limerick goes...

There once was a fellow named Dacre
Who was a god in his own little acre
But in the matter of diaries
He was quite ultra-vires
And could not spot an old faker

Chris Paul said...

Mmmm. Peter Harrison makes some good points. And didn't I read you, on Friday was it, admitting that your were running astory that was out elsewhere in July? What's sauce for the goose ...

Iain Dale said...

Chris Paul, as usual you are wrong. I wrote a post about a BBC programme I had just listened to on a subject which had been on the EU Referendum blog in July.

Anonymous said...

The Sheffield one is better imho

Anonymous said...

I am looking forward to the parody of Gordon in his bunker - screaming at his generals (Balls, Milliband etc). Secretaries in tears etc.

I am not technie enough to do it - I am sure one of your readers could oblige....

Anonymous said...

The similarity between Gordon's temper (and trembling hand) when he loses his temper - and Bruno Ganz's portrayal of Hitler in "Downfall" is uncanny.

Together with the pub sign in the Wirral that made the news last month, it inspired the first post I made on my little blog.

Pub Sign criticised over Brown resemblance.

Anonymous said...

It doesn't quite work if you can speak German.

Johnny Norfolk said...

It just shows you cannot trust the media. I have friends in Tristan Da Cunha. The BBC World Service made up a story about how bad a medical emergency was on the Island. The local newspaper had to set the record straight. You now cannot even trust the World Service. The BBC is out of control. Extract from the piece

Tristan : NO MEDICAL EMERGENCY ON TRISTAN
Submitted by Tristan Times (Sarah Glass) 05.12.2007 (Current Article)
This is just a brief note to all concerned. While there is concern about supplies, there is no killer bug affecting the population.


No Medical Emergency on Tristan







Yesterday's story was updated to reflect the true situation on Tristan da Cunha. It is not us who have cried "Wolf" over this.



Typically all it takes to get a media storm going is a good story. True or not, it goes around the world and people believe it is true. In this case, the BBC got it wrong but didn't call us or try to contact the Island through this website to find out if it was true.



Yes. We are getting low on medicines but those in hospital are getting better. There's no killer virus, either. We have three flu-like viruses going around the Island that affect more severely the portion of our community that suffers from Asthma.



Another attempt will be made to rectify the media problem if this doesn't work

This would nevr have happened in the past

Roger Thornhill said...

I prefer the Xbox>Wii version - it was at least happening to Hitler in person and the flow and match to the scenes better than the "stolen car" version.

Anonymous said...

Do you wish you were the next editor of the Times, then Iain, as well as dreaming of a real berth at the Telegraph? Christ, you don't get it do you? The Sunday Times really really works, you see. It sells (that means people pay, Iaian) to far far more readers than you can attract for free, every day of the week, when they're cooped up in an office.

Anonymous said...

Nochmals Brilliant x 2

Anonymous said...

The Hitler Diaries was one of the funniest cons of all times but a recent contender has been the Bolton family making art treasures in their Council house. Just superb entertainment. Without "canoeman" there really is no news at the moment and we are due another scandal.