Enemies of Reason Poundshop potshots at the media moral maze.

Mail in a corner – so comes out bullshitting

"The Daily Mail's coverage of the 'Emo' movement has been balanced, restrained and above all, in the public interest. Genuine concerns were raised at the inquest earlier this month on 13 year old emo follower Hannah Bond who had been self-harming and then tragically killed herself," reads the statement.
"In common with other newspapers we ran an accurate news story recording the Coroner's remarks and the parents' comments. We also published two other articles, one of which explained the background to the Hannah tragedy in calm and un-sensational language.
"The other was a first person opinion piece by a well-known writer, written from the perspective of a mother concerned for her children. We have also run two prominent page lead letters from an emo music fan and from a fan of My Chemical Romance defending their point of view.
"Our music critic admires the music of the band and publicised the band's UK tour last year. Since this protest was announced a great deal of misinformation has appeared on the internet, much of which confuses what the Daily Mail has actually published with the comments of website readers and 'blogs' over which we have no control and which have stirred up emotions.
"We note it has been pointed out by others that all this provides wonderful publicity for Warners and their impending release of My Chemical Romance's latest album.
"The Daily Mail is a broad church and is always ready to listen to the views of readers. We do, however, suggest those who want to protest or comment read everything we have published and act on fact not rumour."

So

"The Daily Mail's coverage of the 'Emo' movement has been balanced, restrained and above all, in the public interest.

was when they said

WHY NO CHILD IS SAFE FROM THE SINISTER CULT OF EMO

and

In common with other newspapers we ran an accurate news story recording the Coroner's remarks and the parents' comments. We also published two other articles, one of which explained the background to the Hannah tragedy in calm and un-sensational language.

Is this the article with the unsensational language?

Emo fans wear dark clothes, practise self-harm and listen to "suicide cult" rock bands

Or was it this one?

Naive, misguided or just plain stupid. But then, that's always been the trouble with some teenagers. And the danger of emo.

Hmm, I'm guessing it was the other one.

Our music critic admires the music of the band and publicised the band's UK tour last year. Since this protest was announced a great deal of misinformation has appeared on the internet, much of which confuses what the Daily Mail has actually published with the comments of website readers and 'blogs' over which we have no control and which have stirred up emotions.

Oh, 'blogs'. Inverted commas for 'blogs' and 'emo'. You can just see the Mail's disgust bubbling over. Stirred up emotions? What, like the lying bollocks printed in the Mail every day?

We note it has been pointed out by others that all this provides wonderful publicity for Warners and their impending release of My Chemical Romance's latest album.

Hmm, moral high ground there, Mail. Nasty record company, trying to defend its band when they're called 'suicide cult' music by a national newspaper.

The Daily Mail is a broad church and is always ready to listen to the views of readers. We do, however, suggest those who want to protest or comment read everything we have published and act on fact not rumour.

Oh, ha ha ha! *picks self up of floor, thumps table, gales of laughter* Broad church?! Broad... church? How fucking broad is that then? From the extreme right to the slightly less extreme right?

But I agree, read everything they've published, and act on fact. They've got that bit right. It's always best to act on fact, not rumour... for example, when someone says a suicide bomber's eight, just act on that rumour rather than the facts. And when the rumour is disproved, don't change your story, even though it's wrong. That's the best way to be a shining beacon of journalistic integrity, isn't it?

And when you hear rumours of al-Qaeda activity denied in fact by the FBI, just go with the rumour, rather than the fact. Even when your entire story is demolished by the fact you couldn't be fucking bothered to check yours.

So that's that sorted out then. Must be a lonely place up on that high horse of the Mail's.

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