[quote JaniceBattersby]@HoardingSamphireSaurusThey didn’t publish the pictures then because they didn’t have them.
There was also a privacy issue, which was only over-ridden by the public interest test which grew in importance after the reaction to The Mirror’s first story. You should listen to Pippa Crerar and Paul Brady on last week’s R4 MediaShow if you want to know more about why this all came out now.
As for it not being ‘real news’, it’s had major repercussions for the Conservative party, and has been discussed by people across the entire spectrum of society, including abroad, for weeks. That’s literally what news is. This story is both in the public interest and interesting to the public.
News can never be unbiased because it’s written by real people who all have their own opinions and prejudices. But what we do have in this country is a really vibrant, rigorous media that covers the entire political spectrum, from Novara way over there on the left to Guido on the right, and everything in between.
This kind of story is exactly what the media should be covering: something that those in power are desperate for us plebs not to see.[/quote]
I did and was not convinced.
And those repercussions are the problem. No I am not a Tory voter, I remain politically homeless. But I am wary of the pack mentality - that we could see in action at the last Podium talk, as I explained upthread.
News can always be unbiased. It can report such things without the hyperbole. Report the facts. Have your opinions as journalist but 'raucous' etc are deliberately chosen words to misrepresent what the picture showed and the rest of the piece described. I know the Tabs have their place, but sometimes they overstep, go from reporting to manufacturing, and I think this is one of those times.
Had they compared and contrasted with any individual from the same period who had actually had a fine I would have been convinced. Those people exist, don't they? Nottingham Trent University student etc. So where is the balance, the opinion?
I don't agree that any of the mainstream media, Peston et als continued bluster, is rigorous, vibrant etc. It is Papparazzi, lazy and ridiculous.
I don't disagree that this is the kind of story we should be reading. I just want the facts, not the Press Pack baying for blood during a Podium talk about renewed concern and writing attention grabbing, largely irrelevant hyperbole.