11 February 2008

How The Evening Standard Distorts London's News.

On a day when Ken Livingstone announces radical plans for cyclists in the city - something you would have thought of significant importance to Londoners, the Evening Standard instead gives priority to this non-story.

In a typical Daily Mail tactic it reveals the truth of the matter in the last three lines (safe in the knowledge that most people only read the headlines and the first paragraph).

"This shows how ill-informed Boris Johnson is - free travel cards are already confiscated for anti-social behaviour on buses. Anyone cautioned by the police or convicted of a criminal offence loses their card permanently, which is a very effective deterrent, whereas Boris Johnson's proposal would lessen this punishment."

With the Metro, also owned by the Daily Mail, and 'thelondonpaper' by Murdoch, how are Londoners supposed to find out what is really happening in their city?

7 comments:

  1. When you're ill-informed it weakens your arguement. Boris knows the cards are "meant" to be taken away but states figures showing this doesn't happen. And giving people the chance to earn their cards back isn't weakening the punishment, it's allowing for rehabilitation, hardly a hard line right wing view.

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  2. Neil, you missed this, obviously

    http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23436830-details/Superhighways+in+Ken%27s+%A3500m+cycle+revolution/article.do

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  3. Hang on, lets try that again

    Ken Story In Todays Standard

    But as usual, don't let truth upset a good story........

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  4. urko: Yes, the story is in the ES, but it was hidden away, it was not given anywhere near the prominence the Boris story was despite being a story of much bigger genuine interest for Londoners.

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  5. Anon: Wheres your evidence?

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  6. Stop lying. In the main edition of yesterday's Standard, the Bros story was a single column and the London cycle superhighways announcement was a page lead (even though the announcement is pure spin - the supposed highways are to be on borough roads, yet the boros havent even been consulted.

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  7. Anon: I was going by the headlines on their website, where the prominence was for the Boris story. What page was Boris story on and what page was the cycling story? I don't buy the ES, I was going by the website.

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