Even though I don’t read them ever time I pass a news stand or see a headline in a Google search my blood boils. The Romanian invasion headline frenzy at the moment takes it to a new low, I sincerely hope that other countries do not see our headlines or at least see them with a pinch of salt, it’s an embarrassment.
Tabloids shouldn’t be allowed to be called newspapers, gossip papers maybe.
No linking to any of offending websites, please.

In seriousness, is there any other kind of press?

I don’t read newspapers, but my OH gets the Grauniad occasionally. It seems about the best of a bad bunch. We got the Times by accident the other day (asked for a paper in a hotel and that’s what they delivered), and even they were at it. I read two “outrageous” feature headlines on inside pages, both of which turned out to be outright fabrications if you read the article.

Ah, this was one of them.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/europe/article3955278.ece

Headline: “Austerity forces Greece to dump mental patients out on the street”

Body text (emphasis mine): “Hundreds of mental patients, including serial killers, could be back on the streets of Greece soon as the country’s main psychiatric hospitals close because of the financial crisis.”

So the story here is, a hospital is closing and they’ve not yet announced where the patients will go. The headline could as easily have read “Greece to send mental patients to the moon” and have been as accurate.

It’s not just the gutter press, though they are particularly appalling.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/apr/12/news-is-bad-rolf-dobelli

Most of them are no better than comics these days. Though less entertaining.

The sooner people stop buying newspapers the better.
They’re mostly garbage that some people, unfortunately, just lap up.
To some extent it’s nothing new, but they’ve just become parodies now.

Yes, agree, its utter garbage

Just spent a week staying with my 72 year old father who is a life long Express reader

Its his only form of news which he reads and he repeats its content verbatim – which is incredibly frustrating, telling me that all Romanians are scum and should be shot

I explained how i have 2 Romanians working for me and that they are probably my best workers – but he wouldn’t have it – he still thinks that all Romanians are gypsies and that they’ll rob us all blind

The Mirror is just as bad, but is 90% ‘celebrity’ or football news. How can this be classed as news?

The Mail – well – what utter shite

Sun/Star? utter crap

Times – just a posher version of the sun without the tits

The BBC has gone to shite as well – i thought it was meant to be non-political?

The Guardian for me – but even that it taken with a pinch of salt

who is a life long Express reader…..

….Its his only form of news which he reads and he repeats its content verbatim

Bet you are sick of the daily updates on the unfolding Princess Di story?

i have taken to watching al jazeera for the news. i get the impression they are trying to relay what happened, not putting the slant that the other media appear to, particularly regarding israel and Palestine for example.

my folks are staying are trying to read the mail website at me, I just reply with “I Don’t believe it’s true” and they get confused…

BBC, ABC (oz) and SBS for me really

Spot on cougar. It’s the need to create sensational headlines that is the more pressing modern problem (especially to invent 24 hour news). Look at how many threads start here on the basis of a headline – when the actual article says something quite different.

In the internet age, newspapers are getting desperate.

This lot are particularly bad for it…

Don’t get me started.

I went to Waitrose this morning and hey – guess what!? It wasn’t full of The Poor drinking free coffee!

Idiots.

This lot are particularly bad for it…

Their punctuation needs some work as well.

This is why I no longer read the news from any source, it’s almost universally bilge. There’s sod all I can do about 99.9999% of the contents so I just get on with my life.

Kind of related, but there’s an advert on TV just now which goes along the lines “for every bad reported / perpetrated, many more good things are happening”. Its a really nice way to think when you see these headlines – shame the last words on the advert are “…a coke”.

This is why I no longer read the news from any source, it’s almost universally bilge. There’s sod all I can do about 99.9999% of the contents so I just get on with my life.

It’s one of the reasons I read Twitter / STW / Mono. I figure I can let other people read the news for me, filter out the shite, and then pass on anything that’s worth knowing.

Bet you are sick of the daily updates on the unfolding Princess Di story?

You bet i am

What is worse is the column inches still dedicated to the missing McGann girl

Its still in the Express every 2nd day!

wallop – Member
Don’t get me started.

I went to Waitrose this morning and hey – guess what!? It wasn’t full of The Poor drinking free coffee!

Idiots.
No our Waitrose has an endless queue of pensioners at there free coffee machine. Scroungers – they don’t even work 😉

My parents views are pretty moderate so god knows why the read the Mail. I think it was sneaking a guilty peak at their copy on Sunday that has built up my need to do a rantette.

I get The Week which is good for getting a cross section of news from different papers especially from other countries.

If I want to read a proper paper The Independent is the only one I’ll get.

With the power cuts on Christmas Eve (and longer) the free coffee stand at our local Waitrose WAS mobbed!!!!

But don’t you have to have a W’rose card to benefit???

I laughed today when some woman. calling into the Jeremy Vile show, said the country was over populated.

She knew this because she could no longer get a parking space at the Waitrose in Wokingham 🙂

It’s a free card and yes, you need that for the free coffee. Also gets you a free newspaper if you spend a fiver or more.

Had a nice latte this morning chez Waitrose 🙂

My parents views are pretty moderate so god knows why the read the Mail.

I collared my mum about that recently. She said she only got it for the crossword.

cheers_drive – Member
My parents views are pretty moderate so god knows why the read the Mail.

Are they passive aggressive?

Do they sometime disappear from the house without telling you?

😈

It’s the non news that does my head in, celebrity crap, endless speculation instead of reporting facts, no holding of politicians to account. I don’t care if some z listed is cheating on their other half, that’s a private relationship problem, not **** news. Go and find some real crime or corruption if you think you are an investigative journalist!

But the Matt cartoons on the front page of the Torygraph are fantastic.

Matt always seems to get it right. Have learned most about bankers from the Alex cartoon.

For a right wing paper, Matt is deliciously subversive.

Hate the lot. Guardian definitely included.

As a subscriber, Private Eye seem to get the right balance for me 🙂

Drives me mad whenever I go round the old dears. I’ve threatened to stop taking the kids round as she use the “P” word whenever talking about anyone Asian. She really upset me once whilst showing a photo of a trip up Snowdon I did with some work colleagues, one of whom is Seikh, & she used the “P” word. I don’t think she is actually racist but reading the Mail just seems to make her worse. Utter utter crap & the sooner this shite dies out the better.

I thought the Express only had one headline ” Britain heading for a Full On Ice Age this Winter!” I only get the Torygraph for the motoring section on a Saturday and even that is giving way to adds for bloody cruises.

I don’t buy a paper and now I’m listening to internet radio I have no idea what is going on.
It’s rather pleasant.

Sadly, the press are only writing what they know sells – filth, trash fear and hate etc.

one of the worst things is the mail website – full of stories about ‘celebs’ doing things they should not – but at the same time printing titilating pics which is just as bad as the ‘filth’ they are moaning about.

at a push i would go for the indie… or private eye

Al Jazeera is just a different slant, not slant-free.

Al Jazeera, you may want to look at the owners and question the “slant” from there.

Same goes for putin Russia Today

well its 30 minutes into 2014 and Ive yet to be robbed, molested or witnessed any swan killings yet

turns out that the right wing press and nigel farage were full of shit

Aw nothing like the paranoia of a sad lefty, Nige has em on the run it seems 🙂

It’s the non news that does my head in, celebrity crap, endless speculation instead of reporting facts, no holding of politicians to account. I don’t care if some z listed is cheating on their other half, that’s a private relationship problem, not **** news. Go and find some real crime or corruption if you think you are an investigative journalist!

yes I find the BBC “news” output including the various trolling phone in’s really frustrating

some of Al Jazeera’s output is OK, just watch other stuff to balance, Fox and Russia Today are just extremes of a spectrum

no reporting is unbiased, from the reported/ reporter upwards there is a bias/ agenda

whatever people think of the papers, they are the ones who “broke” the expenses scandal in British politics so the Telegraph gets my cash when I buy a paper

Aw nothing like the paranoia of a sad lefty

definition of a reactionary: a lefty who’s had their iphone pinched by insert social group here and wants to know why the police haven’t locked them all up/ deported them 😉