I have at the age of 72 finally realised just what I dislike about the gutter press and why. Whilst talking to Aaron this morning I had a Eureka moment. It is not just that I disagree with what is written in the likes of the Telegraph, Mail, Express and latterly the i, but the really annoying thing is that they publish opinion on the front page (and elsewhere) purporting to be news. Often it is a minority opinion that is deemed to whip up the hatred of their readership.
An example was last weeks front page headline and article claiming that shutting the asylum hostel in Epping was a ‘victory for Mothers’. The facts do not in anyway support this – locking up the protestors outside the hotel would have a greater claim for protecting ‘mothers’ and their ‘children’.
I realise that all news has a bias whether by omission or emphasis, but respectable outlets try to maintain the true facts – comment and opinion should be clearly labelled as such as the Guardian does. The BBC sometimes goes too far in the pursuit of fairness – why Farage has appeared on QT more than anyone else is a mystery – as is the insertion of climate denial comments in debates on climate change. It does not mention that some people think the world is flat everytime they show a globe! However I realise that there is a difficult line to be drawn here. But there is no excuse for total bias to mascarade as fact.