BS: Churnalism

Subject: BS: Churnalism
From: Emma B
Date: 10 Jul 10 - 08:29 AM

Fellow addicts of the BBC Radio 4 comedy programme 'The Now Show' may have heard a report on this yesterday or today -

Churnalism is a form of journalism in which press releases, wire stories and other forms of pre-packaged material are used to create articles in newspapers and other news media in order to meet increasing pressures of time and cost without undertaking further research or checking

Once such stories are published, numerous other publications, often world wide, pickup and recycled the stories - some even get posted on for a such as this!

Disturbingly such distortions have been occurring in the UK press with almost rabid anti-muslim intent

Tabloid Watch reports on one recent such non story

"On Saturday, the local Express and Star explained it had been contacted by a few users of Darlaston swimming pool in Walsall who were critical of a new film that had been placed on windows for privacy reasons.

That wouldn't be newsworthy, but for the fact that some - although, according to the Council, not all - of the requests for the change had come from the Muslim community.

And suddenly, the tabloids are full of headlines about Muslims 'forcing' their views on 'us'.

By yesterday, the BBC, Mail and Sun had run the story and today the Mirror, Star and the Express followed.

None of them had gone to the centre, or done any actual journalism (copying and pasting quotes and phoning the TPA (Tax Payers Alliance) is not journalism, although you wouldn't know it from many papers today).

The Express' online article carried a headline which talked of 'appeasing Muslims' - a word that seems to have been deliberately chosen.

The Mail and Sun both hugely over-exaggerated the extent of the changes. Swimmers plunged into dark after council covers swimming pool windows 'to protect Muslim women's modesty' claimed the Mail. Pool blacked out for Muslim swim ranted the Sun.

The Sun said:
the local council has covered all 250 windows at the centre in Darlaston...the move has plunged the pool into permanent darkness

The Mail:
council staff have covered 250 windows with dark-tinted film

The Mirror agreed that:
All 250 windows at the pool have been covered

BUT IT WASN'T TRUE

The council has come under fire for applying a translucent film to 58 window panels It's like cling film, which allows in natural light

In essence, a leisure centre has added a few privacy measures to a swimming pool after suggestions from Muslims and non-Muslims. ( ie. 'people')

The tabloids turn this into: Muslims force Council to black out all windows in a swimming pool so they can swim while ruining it for everyone else.


You cannot hope to bribe or twist,
Thank God, the British journalist.
But seeing what the man will do
Unbribed, there's no occasion to!

Humbert Wolfe

The backlash against Muslims on the newspaper comment pages has been as vicious, intolerant and ignorant as you might expect.'

Subject: RE: BS: Churnalism
From: Amos
Date: 10 Jul 10 - 10:28 AM

Shades of McCarthy's worst hour. The press machine was a full-bore participant in the Red Scare back then, also. Just a reminder--plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.






A

Subject: RE: BS: Churnalism
From: Leadfingers
Date: 10 Jul 10 - 10:42 AM

If you can get The Now Show on Listen again , DO SO !

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