A very good mate of mine (I do have some, honest) has a particular hatred of one common tabloid practice. He doesn't like all the other good stuff either - but this one thing gets on his chuffing nerves.
It's using the word 'now' to kick off a headline. It's the way the word implies 'as if everything that's happened before wasn't enough, here's something ridiculous that'll try the patience of a bloody saint'.
Blogging about bad journalism since 2006.
31/03/2009
24/03/2009
When churnalism and immigration scare stories collide
Here's the scenario. You are the PR person for a company who provides information - credit checks, market research, that sort of thing. Your company has recently helped produce a facility that allows people to track how popular their name is across the world, and you want to get coverage in the UK press. Your research shows that nine of the top ten most popular surnames in the UK have stayed in the same order of popularity for 100 years, and that all top ten names are British. How do you get a puff piece published?
19/03/2009
English is a second language for 1 in 7 pupils. In primary schools. In England. Oh, and nearly half of them are in London.
Hi everybody! My second post has been up on MailWatch for ages with the headline 'Population growth and density. Should we be as frightened as the Mail wants us to be?' go and have a look.
I wrote this for MailWatch, but I don't want to hog the front page over there all the time, so I'll post it here first. I'll cross post it later. Enjoy!
I wrote this for MailWatch, but I don't want to hog the front page over there all the time, so I'll post it here first. I'll cross post it later. Enjoy!
11/03/2009
My first post is up at MailWatch
Headline says it all. It's based on my last two posts here and headlined 'How the Mail’s Home Affairs Editor fact checks press releases'. Have a gander if you like.
10/03/2009
More fun with MigrationWatch numbers
Hello people. It's lunchtime, and I've managed to do some quick calculations based on yesterday's figures from MigrationWatch. Enjoy!
Is there ever a press release from MigrationWatch that doesn't make the Daily Mail?
Today's Mail includes a nice immigration scare story that's pretty typical of the paper's output. 'UK migrant total is 'three times the world average'' is the headline. Frightened yet?
The basic premise of the article is this. The percentage of the world's population who are migrants has risen from 2.5% to 3% between 1960 and 2005, while the percentage of the UK's population who are migrants has risen from 4.5% to 11% between 1961 and 2008. Therefore, claims that the rise in the number of migrants in the UK is part of a global phenomenon are rubbish, we have a ridiculously high proportion of migrants in the UK and it's all Labour's fault.
The basic premise of the article is this. The percentage of the world's population who are migrants has risen from 2.5% to 3% between 1960 and 2005, while the percentage of the UK's population who are migrants has risen from 4.5% to 11% between 1961 and 2008. Therefore, claims that the rise in the number of migrants in the UK is part of a global phenomenon are rubbish, we have a ridiculously high proportion of migrants in the UK and it's all Labour's fault.
04/03/2009
What's that smell again?
If you wanted evidence of how the Mail confuses immigration with race, here it is
I will be offering a more considered view about this issue, but for now here's a short observation.
Often, the Mail gets accused of deliberately conflating immigration with race in a dog-whistling fashion. Recently, Sunder Katwala pointed out that the paper had suggested that the children and grandchildren of immigrants should be counted as immigrants despite being born in the country and wrote a fantastic letter to Paul Dacre about it. He also wrote to Phil Woolas, who replied.
The Mail has covered Woolas' reply (without mentioning its role in the original letter, natch). 'Immigration minister attacks statistics chiefs for publishing 'sinister' race numbers' is the current headline, but an earlier link to the article in the comments over at Liberal Conspiracy suggests that it originally had the word 'immigration' in the headline rather than 'race'.
Except the numbers don't measure race. They measure immigration.
At the end of 'The smell of racism and the Mail', I gave a short list of things that make me wonder if the paper is racist. Here's a new one. What about when the paper pretends immigration figures it disapproves of actually measure race, and it has previously reported these figures as being too high? Is it obliquely saying that there are too many ethnic minorities for its liking?
What's that smell?
**UPDATE**The headline has changed again now, as the article has beome one of many calling for Woolas' resignation. God, he's such a cock.
I will be offering a more considered view about this issue, but for now here's a short observation.
Often, the Mail gets accused of deliberately conflating immigration with race in a dog-whistling fashion. Recently, Sunder Katwala pointed out that the paper had suggested that the children and grandchildren of immigrants should be counted as immigrants despite being born in the country and wrote a fantastic letter to Paul Dacre about it. He also wrote to Phil Woolas, who replied.
The Mail has covered Woolas' reply (without mentioning its role in the original letter, natch). 'Immigration minister attacks statistics chiefs for publishing 'sinister' race numbers' is the current headline, but an earlier link to the article in the comments over at Liberal Conspiracy suggests that it originally had the word 'immigration' in the headline rather than 'race'.
Except the numbers don't measure race. They measure immigration.
At the end of 'The smell of racism and the Mail', I gave a short list of things that make me wonder if the paper is racist. Here's a new one. What about when the paper pretends immigration figures it disapproves of actually measure race, and it has previously reported these figures as being too high? Is it obliquely saying that there are too many ethnic minorities for its liking?
What's that smell?
**UPDATE**The headline has changed again now, as the article has beome one of many calling for Woolas' resignation. God, he's such a cock.
02/03/2009
Too many people are leaving the country! Or is it not enough? I forget. What week is it?
Immigration scare stories are ten a penny in the Mail and the Express. Scares about how many foreign workers there are in the country and ones about how British citizens are leaving in droves are so common I'm sick of writing about them. The only thing as predictable as their appearance is the depressing inevitability of MigrationWatch playing a part somewhere along the line.
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