Thursday, December 14, 2006
BREAKING NEWS: Sky Film Training Shoe Find
I've had Sky News on in the background since about 10.15. Since then they have covered one story - the discovery of a training shoe on the banks of the River Orwell. It's as if this is the most vital clue yet in the Police inquiry. Fifty minutes on this, to the exclusion of virtually everything else. I really wonder whether this 24/7 news coverage of this murder inquiry is helpful. The journalists are obviously desperate to find a new angle and so report something as BREAKING NEWS even when it is probably only of tangential importance. Sky have at least five reporters and crews on the scene. A bit over the top, I'd say.
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22 comments:
Helpful?
What on earth makes you think that the media are there to be helpful?
Anybody would think five Princess Dianas had been killed.
The whole "live news" coverage is silly. In some ways, police resources are wasted by feeding the media beast, throwing bones to sate the appetite of hacks and producers alike when perhaps the police could just get on with the job and offer a few updates when appropriate, not daily briefings.
You're right. And fancy wasting PMQs on it: Tony is unlikely to know who did it and Dave's blustering -- 'We all want this monster to be caught and locked up!' -- was hardly likely to floor the PM.
At least Menzies brought it round to a policy issue... but then Dave's no policy to showcase.
(Hat's off to the media savvy police though; drip feeding the media to keep it up there.)
I agree entirely. It verges on being exploitative now. These are tragedies for the families concerned and the media should report news, not hang around salivating. Sky gives the impression it is just waiting for another victim to be found. There's nothing to be done but appeal to their sense of decency, alas.
If there's one thing the media like to get their teeth into more than a paedophile, its a good serial killer. This blanket coverage will likely not stop until a week after this loon is caught.
I'm sure these loons sometimes do this kind of shit because they /know/ they will get total news coverage...
Does anyone think the media are really helping?
Sky have gone way over the top on this one.
Monday wasn't too bad, particulary when "Sky News Alert - West Ham call a press conference" popped up during Lunchtime Live.
The news media are being exploitative and obsessional, but they are only serving the debased nature of people like our contributor wringled weasel. You slob. Has it ocurred to you that these young women might not have started out wanting to enter a life of drugs and prostitution? That also they might have been manipulated into it by drug dealers? Certainly one of the young women, Gemma, was from a normal "middle-class" family and her father was desperate to get her out of it, but she had "fallen in with the wrong crowd" ("boyfriend" was a dealer) and he did not know she was working the streets.
When the police do catch the killer, I hope they then turn to arresting and charging any journalist who has perverted the course of justice by publishing misinformation or assisting the killer in any way.
Actually I think it was the Soham murders that finally tipped the balance and turned the reporting of a tragedy into a circus.
I don't think Sky are doing themselves any favours with this type of ghoulish coverage. At least we have been spared the doe eyed Kaye Burleigh doing one of her "oh so understanding" interviews with the parents of one or more victims. So far.
Anonymous. (Why give them credibility if they dare not even identify themselves.)
Slob?!
I have a different point of view. One that does not believe in the hysterical and instant beatification of prostitutes who spread diseases and abuse their children, among other anti-social activities.
These are human tragedies, not excuses for mass outpourings of sentimentality and demonstrations of liberal PC cred.
If you wish to have a go at me, go to my blog and do it.
No doubt all these journalists from Sky and the others will be able to embark on in-depth investigations of the Ipswich prostitution scene?
It really is disgracefully gruesome - but even the BBC are in on the act. Forget 'bread and circuses'. Morbid sordid curiosity rules OK.
Sky will know from their US counter parts that this sort of 'action news' sells adverts - deep analysis of the political situation takes time, views from a helicopter instantly grab the attention of a large audience segment.
And they will know from their website, coverage on News of the World site and so on which stories are getting the clicks - and will take their editorial lead from that.
Andrew Marr's book 'My Trade' has an excellent insight into this. The 'Daily Mail' started it donkey's years ago with newspaper coverage of a man burning to death, trapped in the upper floor of his house. The masses lapped it up, and tabloid sensationalism was born. They only do it because our eyes latch onto it.
According to Ceefax, the government has started the consultation process, that is, asking whether prisoners should have the vote. Firstly, this is the wrong question because the ECtHR has already decided this issue and all the government has to do is implement the Court's decision. Secondly, there is nothing up on the DCA website since February on this issue. However, I have done a radio interview for Southern Counties Radio, and Radio Humberside, this morning. So, there are other stories in the news Iain if you are really interested in a serious issue. You might start asking why Ireland has already passed a Bill for prisoners to have the postal vote, and why Tony Blair has given prisoners the vote in Iraq and not implemented it over here.
What annoys me, Iain, is that people like you seem quite happy to slate the BBC / licence fee etc. - yet do you really want the news agenda to be totally dominated by SkyFox 'Fair and Balanced' [sic] News ?
If you want public service broadcasting, you need to pay for it, I'm afraid. If you don't, then you'll just have to put up with the crap from Murdoch and his cronies, I'm afraid.
An old trainer found on the banks of a river. Whatever next?!
I'm no expert; Do prostitutes wear trainers? The media image seems to favour the high heels as the footwear of choice.
The grisly relish of the media covering this story is very disturbing.
I have the utmost contempt for the media reporting in these cases -under the guise of being sympathetic they intrude into family grief and get all kinds of 'fame for 3 minutes' types pontificating.
What they do not seem to take up is the obvious answer that the Mothers' Union actually dared to voice some years ago and got villified for - legalise brothels and end pimps and kerb crawlers. These girls are going to do it anyway -why not keep them safe and with health checks -that's not saying its right but neither is drug taking and Kate Moss etc seems well take care of!
All other kinds of behaviour is judged Ok they are now not prostitutes but sex workers -so give them relative safety.
The Media have a fetish about prostitutes - look how Pygmalion was recast as Pretty Woman.............there is a fixation with prostitution and drugs whichg shows just how bizarre media types really are.
Then the combination of sex and violence hyped up by the media attracts the lonely to join in rather as the Ripper Hoaxer did so no doubt even though this killer is racking up corpses faster than an episiode of Taggart he'll probably spin it out for the media so they can keep hunting for ratings
Sky news are completely obsessed with being the first with any piece of news....even if it is a trainer being found...It seems that breaking news is all they aim for in their output. I'm slightly put off by that.
Be grateful for what you get. The Ipswich Ripper story was the lead item on the US news last night - they are linking it with an unsolved murder in Atlantic City last month.
They described Ipswich as a 'suburb of London'.
I nearly spat my tea out...
That's lovely. I still use a screen grab from Fox in some of my lectures which shows an empty lecturn with the caption 'waiting for Rumsfeld statement' whic ran for about 20 minutes.
Are you telling me this is the most important news in the world? Probably not.
I live 8 miles from Ipswich, and the whole town and the surrounding area is crawling with the media.
Tragic though the whole business is,the locals are getting rather fed up with it
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