Tuesday 24 July 2018

THE HOGWASH EXPRESS

I haven't regarded the Daily Express as a serious newspaper for years. Laughably, it has World's Greatest Newspaper as its strap line although nothing could be further from the truth. No wonder satire is dead. I stopped thinking it was even a newspaper when I began to notice the banner headlines were getting dafter and dafter. The proprietor, until very recently, was Richard Desmond, not a man you would trust to give you the time of day. But on Brexit, particularly on their on-line platform (I can't speak for print because I don't buy it) they are excelling themselves. Bias doesn't begin to describe it.

But it's all dangerous stuff in my opinion. Often the reports are ridiculously stupid and the points made in the headline are actually contradicted by the story.

I assume the journalists are paid by the amount of copy and the headline writers are manufacturing click bait but it begs the question: who is it aimed at and why?

Let's face it, The Daily Express is not the newspaper of choice for young, educated, cosmopolitan professionals is it? Print readers are more likely to be elderly, prejudiced and with an attention span as limited as their world view. But they're not the sort of people that go online either. The stories are the sort of cheap thought-free content that can be shared, posted and re-posted on social media to reinforce the prejudice in a new generation of semi-literate morons. I wouldn't underestimate the number of shares these stories get.

It's the rise of, not necessarily fake news, although some of it is certainly that, but of manufactured hysteria where a single word or a short phrase is taken out of context to have a short piece written about it, not to illuminate or inform or even add a little bit of understanding, but to deliberately stir up prejudice and division. It is manipulation pure and simple.

Anyone who relies on the Express for the majority of their Brexit news will be stunned when it all turns sour. They have been misled and think anyone pointing out the problems is a remoaner with a grievance. 

It seems to me the Express Group employ young, immature, often foreign and newly qualified journalists to watch TV or listen to the radio and then churn out copy about something said by someone about Brexit. Solid journalism it ain't, but very cheap I assume. If it's a positive thing for Brexit, the story headline usually has the word brilliant in it, spelled out in capitals. If it's negative then it might say something like "Remoaner stuffed". I've started to make a list of the names of these journalists (below) to see just how many they have. There seems only to be about seven people but they contribute an awful lot of bile often with several reports appearing each day.

The guilty journos are below. Click on the story and you will see their name on the byline. Click on the name and you will see a longer list of the ridiculous stories they have published in The Daily Express On-line edition. It's frightening.  Dave Maddox, described as Political Correspondent, also contributes stories to Brexit Central.

'Project Fear ON SPEED!' Tory MP TRASHES Amazon claim no deal would lead to 'civil unrest'


BREXIT: May urged to create WORLD TRADE DEAL with NO divorce payout or EU power


Brexiteer warns UK could launch 'catastrophic' retaliation to Irish PM's airspace threats


'It will be a HUGE BOOM' Brexiteer TRASHES 'catastrophic' predictions with BRILLIANT point
'That is it!' Tory MP delivers BRILLIANT Brexit speech Theresa May should give NOW

Terrifying isn't it?  Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. What's happening to us?
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