Enemies of Reason Poundshop potshots at the media moral maze.

Friday links 21/8/09

Hello! There may be proper writing of things later but for the meantime, here are some things I've read and enjoyed.

Five Chinese Crackers - Columnists: Creators of imaginary worlds

What the tabloid columnist usually does is act as Greek Chorus for the paper they appear in. The tabloids set the scene with their constantly repeated stories, with exagerrated figures, distorted coverage of reports that aim to invert their meaning and opinion dressed as fact - that happen to fit the targeted narratives they've created. But these will often be flawed by the balance that must be inserted (and mostly is) with a quote toward the end, or the inclusion of actual figures that readers might spot aren't quite as scary as the paper wants them to believe they are. So here the columnist pipes up and shows the reader what their ideal reaction should be.

A beautiful, thoughtful post examining why Richard Littlejohn and Kelvin Mackenzie are such hateful cunts.

The Daily Quail: Readers supportive of model's compensation claim

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This cyber bully was clearly a very jealous and vindictive woman and I'm glad that she was been found out. Too many people come onto internet forums spreading lies and hurtful gossip. It's about time people grew up and considered other peoples feelings, how would they feel if the tables were turned?

with

If she wants to work in banking, she should grow some thicker skin. It's hard work being a girl working in a man's world, but if you don't react to silly comments, then they get bored and give up.

See, it's only fair for certain people to be cyber bullies and not others, OK?

Greenpeace: Greenpeace admits BBC got it wrong

Sackur claimed that we were predicting that all the ice in the Arctic -- including the massive Greenland ice sheet, which is on land, would be gone by 2030. That's NOT what we said. When we talk about "ice-free summers" in the Arctic, we're using the term the same way that NASA and climate scientists the world over use the term: to describe an Arctic free of sea-ice. And Sackur, or his researcher, would have known that if they read the entire article, including the next sentence: They say you can't be too thin or too young, but this unfortunately doesn't apply to the Arctic sea ice.

How journalists don't check things, don't bother to check things, and how opponents of environmental groups make stuff up to try and claim victory. Also: how being absolutely accurate is important for environmental groups.

Stumbling and Mumbling: Against a high pay commission.

Septicisle: The latest on Glen Jenvey. Jenvey has now not only admitted planting the 'Sugar Terror Target' quotes but also now says he has converted to Islam.

Lady McScamp: There are no ulterior motives here, move along now, nothing to see...

Jack of Kent: Quentin Letts and a frozen haddock (no, it's not 'spot the difference')

Sarah Ditum: Capitalism in action with playground conkers

Army of Dave: James Dyson is a slacker

Freemania: Turning Japanese (following on from John Band's lyrics quiz)

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