When news reports say one thing but mean another...

[JeremyVile]

They report an incident and follow the official police line but make it just clear enough - if you read between the lines - that they know and the police know that they're not really buying the 'official' version of events.

What I wonder is this- are the reporters hinting because they just cant help themselves even though they reslly shouldn't or do the police want the reports to suggest there is something else going on in order to prompt an appropriate response from potential witnesses etc?

Most importantly, I'm wondering if any of this makes sense...I may even have confuzzled myself.

I think I know the case you refer to and it seems deliberate from both sides.

The police often treat the press as an investigatory tool and the press are happy to go along with that for the sake of getting a story. It's useful for both parties. Reporters will have off-the-record briefings alongside the public press conferences.

Sometimes they are right - I'm thinking of Ian Huntley and Tracie Andrews, who was the girl who stabbed her boyfriend to death and pretended it was a road rage attack.

Sometimes they are wrong as in Colin Stagg and Barry George.

We'll see.