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Toggy
Joined: 18 Aug 2008
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ruddlescat
Joined: 16 Sep 2010
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 Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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It just illustrates what I've always thought about Mr Clarkson - he's a hypocritical, publicity seeking idiot who's completely ruined Top Gear and who supports cruelty to animals 
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ColinB
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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I was expecting a "shock horror" story (as befits the Daily Rag) but it turned out to be a hatchet piece on a bloke who was smoking while his missus was running a marathon.
The fact that the Mail made such an issue about it speaks volumes......... and, no, I don't give a toss what Clarkson does or says even when he's doing it tongue-in-cheek to wind up lesbians, vegetarians and speed traps.
Then again - you'd think that the Mail would be praising him for standing up to the PC brigade - hypocrites! |
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Toggy
Joined: 18 Aug 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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It's a typical daily mail piece though, the man is an adult doing something perfectly legal not some 15 year child who has been caught smoking pot behind the bike sheds.
I like him but I appreciate his humour isn't to everybody's taste. |
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ruddlescat
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| Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 9:42 pm Post subject: |
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I agree Toggy that what he was doing was perfectly legal and I certainly don't think that smoking should be completely banned as some would like
However if like Mr Clarkson you are in the public eye and often use the media in order to promote your own career then you have to be extremely careful not to trip yourself up as he would appear to have done in this case
The press to me is an evil empire and if anyone chooses to fraternise with these evil people they do so at their own risk
I think if Princess Diana was here today and posting on this forum she would completely agree with me 
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littlepieces
Joined: 10 Jan 2010
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Location: Lowestoft
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 12:05 am Post subject: |
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Such a non-story bit like the express had about Kate wearing the same shoes twice.
We have a lot of good journos but there is a lot of tripe out there
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ColinB
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:54 am Post subject: |
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| ruddlescat wrote: | | However if like Mr Clarkson you are in the public eye and often use the media in order to promote your own career then you have to be extremely careful not to trip yourself up as he would appear to have done in this case |
I don't think he gives a stuff, to be honest, and nor would I in his position.
| ruddlescat wrote: | | The press to me is an evil empire and if anyone chooses to fraternise with these evil people they do so at their own risk |
You're implying that everyone who is engaged in press reporting is tarred with the same "evil" brush - and that clearly isn't the case. Don't forget that it was the result of some very determined (and brave) investigative work by Nick Davies and co at The Guardian and The Independent that the lid was blown off the News of The World phone hacking scandal. I would say that, far from being evil, those guys are national heroes because they helped to bring the Murdoch Mafia to its knees - at least for a year or two. At least we still some degree of balance in our press.
| ruddlescat wrote: | | I think if Princess Diana was here today and posting on this forum she would completely agree with me |
She was an expert media manipulator, too! |
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ruddlescat
Joined: 16 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:07 am Post subject: |
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To be honest Colin anyone involved in the British press will do virtually anything to promote their own position however much harm it may cause to innocent people who are simply fodder for their power games
Of course I applaud the fact that the Guardian and the Independent did what they did in order to expose the disgraceful and often illegal antics of the Murdoch mafia but I if you really think that they did it as a public service or for the public good then I think you are being somewhat naive
As is well known Murdoch and the likes of the Guardian management hate each other and the same is true of Murdoch and the BBC so whatever these opposing media groups may do I wouldn't necessarily assume it's out of any kind of duty to the public - rather more to cause their rivals a problem I would suggest
I do however give the Telegraph credit for what they did over the expenses scandal but I think that was rather a 'one off' and doubtless they probably had their own reasons for doing so - could it be that by releasing the information on a drip - drip basis they had the idea that they would sell a lot more newspapers - perish the thought
As for Princess Diana yes she did her very best to manipulate the media but at the end of the day even she was unsuccessful and I believe much of the media's antics contributed to her sad early demise
Let's face it - if even she couldn't handle the situation what chance do ordinary people with no media training have 
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ColinB
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:29 am Post subject: |
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| ruddlescat wrote: | | To be honest Colin anyone involved in the British press will do virtually anything to promote their own position however much harm it may cause to innocent people who are simply fodder for their power games |
I really don't agree that anybody "will" do anything of the sort. I have one friend who is a sub-editor on the Guardian, and another who's a freelance contributor to The Independent. Neither of them has such aspirations. They're just very good journalists who want to ensure that the wool isn't pulled over our eyes by those in positions of power and influence.
| ruddlescat wrote: | | Of course I applaud the fact that the Guardian and the Independent did what they did in order to expose the disgraceful and often illegal antics of the Murdoch mafia but I if you really think that they did it as a public service or for the public good then I think you are being somewhat naive |
I'm old enough (and, hopefully, wise enough) to appreciate that both papers are commercial operations who each have a need to return a profit to their respective owners - as well as helping my friends above to pay their monthly bills. To suggest that I was innocent of this fact would be very silly. However, such publications can still survive by providing a balanced view of events in the world we live in. Isn't that why people choose to buy their newspapers?
| ruddlescat wrote: | | As is well known Murdoch and the likes of the Guardian management hate each other and the same is true of Murdoch and the BBC so whatever these opposing media groups may do I wouldn't necessarily assume it's out of any kind of duty to the public - rather more to cause their rivals a problem I would suggest |
Well, obviously.
| ruddlescat wrote: | | I do however give the Telegraph credit for what they did over the expenses scandal but I think that was rather a 'one off' and doubtless they probably had their own reasons for doing so - could it be that by releasing the information on a drip - drip basis they had the idea that they would sell a lot more newspapers - perish the thought |
Ditto my comment above. Newspapers are allowed to unearth corruption, ask awkward questions whilst at the same time make money. Otherwise they wouldn't exist and we would be denied access to what might be considered to be "the truth". Isn't that what underpins this thing called democracy?
| ruddlescat wrote: | | As for Princess Diana yes she did her very best to manipulate the media but at the end of the day even she was unsuccessful and I believe much of the media's antics contributed to her sad early demise |
In which case, blame the idiots who bought the publications. Ricky Desmond has proven that if you put the words "Diana" on the cover of The Express, you increase your readership 5-fold. That surely says it all.
| ruddlescat wrote: | | Let's face it - if even she couldn't handle the situation what chance do ordinary people with no media training have |
She also courted press attention. Her closest aides and friends were known to tip off key paps and hacks about where she'd be at a given time, and she was known for having her favourite media people tipped off in order to support her cause against her husband. All this while Max Clifford was being briefed to fend off the news hounds!
Something about "heat" and "kitchen" comes to mind. |
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R2Icon
Joined: 10 Sep 2009
Posts: 1444
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| There is so much stuff going on in the world- good stuff, bad stuff, interesting stuff and boring stuff but we hear and read very little about it. Someone, somewhere ‘decides’ what the news shall be each day and then all the different news-groups, media and journalists follow that decision like an under 5s football team chasing the ball around. They all report the same events. None of them have the balls or the gumption to get out there and find the real news. We get the same coffee-machine news, day in, day out. Clarkson smoking a cigarette making the newspapers is news but only the sort of news that lets us know that the vending machine needs a jolly good service. |
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ruddlescat
Joined: 16 Sep 2010
Posts: 18010
Location: Near Chester
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:12 am Post subject: |
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I completely agree Rach and the problem is that the few elite people who have the power to decide what is 'news' are often motivated by their own prejudices or those of the proprietor of the publication for which they work instead of taking a proper impartial and independent view
And it goes much further than the whole of the media writing about the same events - they generally follow each other like sheep taking exactly the same view of those events quite simply because they start with a particular agenda and refuse to change their position even if subsequent events prove them wrong
They will never ever admit they are wrong and whenever they are dragged kicking and screaming by the toothless tiger which passes for the Press Complaints Commission they will publish an apology only reluctantly hidden away in some obscure section of their publication despite the fact that when they get things wrong it's usually front page news
The whole system absolutely stinks and whilst I'm no fan of any national newspaper I do think it unfair to single out the Daily Mail for criticism - the truth is they're all as bad as each other - after all does anyone really believe that the problem of phone hacking stops at the Sun or NOTW - if anyone does then like Lord Elpuss they're living in cloud cuckooland 
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ColinB
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:13 am Post subject: |
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| R2Icon wrote: | | None of them have the balls or the gumption to get out there and find the real news. |
I'm not even convinced that such a claim is true either, Rachel. What about the story of the old woman in Northampton who attacked a pair of jewellery-shop robbers with her handbag and saw them off? That was a good "news" story that the Chronicle & Echo picked up which was then syndicated to the nationals (and therefore earning the paper a commission).
I would say that your assertion has some truth when related to the tabloid red-tops, but certainly not to all journalistic publications. I read both the Guardian and the Indie largely for their technology features; they're well researched and written and they keep me informed (mostly via their iPad apps rather than in print) about what's what. And I'll pay to access this stuff. Seems a reasonable deal to me. |
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R2Icon
Joined: 10 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:29 am Post subject: |
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| Colin, if you can remember individual stories, that proves my point. The news could and should be filled with stuff like that everyday, you should be able to list twenty new items like that every day of the week, not just the odd exception from weeks and weeks ago. Journalists and media groups have become lazy, they see themselves as a distribution service for large organisation PR Departments' and Spin Doctors' output, they are not interested in the real world or in real people. |
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ColinB
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 10:41 am Post subject: |
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| R2Icon wrote: | | Colin, if you can remember individual stories, that proves my point. |
Not really. I can think of lots - but that one sticks out because it made me laugh.
| R2Icon wrote: | | The news could and should be filled with stuff like that everyday, you should be able to list twenty new items like that every day of the week, not just the odd exception from weeks and weeks ago. Journalists and media groups have become lazy, they see themselves as a distribution service for large organisation PR Departments' and Spin Doctors' output, they are not interested in the real world or in real people. |
I agree that many editorial staff have become lazy - but mostly on the popular (and populist) titles. The other day I picked up a copy of the Independent to read on the train into London and I hadn't read anything near all of that which I would have liked to read during the 50-minute journey. Not of it was what you'd called "PR spin" - or at least it didn't appear that way to me.
Jack Schofield's technology column in The Guardian is a good example; I've been reading him since I built my first computers in 1986 and he's a guru! Of course, he picks up a press release from a technology company (as I do) which points him at a new piece of hardware or software, but when it comes to researching and writing copy he's his own man (and, apparently, who doesn't suffer new subs gladly if they tamper with his copy).
What I'm saying is that there are "journalists" and there are "tabloid hacks", but it would be crazy to tar them all with the same brush any more than it would be to say that all coppers are bent, that all MPs are fiddling their expenses or that all teachers are card-carrying communists. It's just plain daft.
If, on the other hand, the Great British Public is stupid enough to buy the output of certain newspapers, then so be it. |
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