See just when you thought there wasn't a god The Sun comes out and makes a howler managing to spell the name of the mother Jacqui Janes wrong on its website as it uses her and her fallen Jamie son in a tawdry effort to attack Gordon Brown for political gain.
It is hard to say if this is a new low for the Sun - or just another in its "continuing voyages" after all this is the paper that set the bench mark on low with its coverage of the Hillsborough stadium disaster.
The paper has racked up than 130 comments under its story covering the letter sent by the prime minister to Jacqui Janes with the majority backing Brown. I'm not going to go into that, besides Roy Greenslade has a good post over at the Guardian.
As you can see from the image the Sun referred to Jacqui Janes as "Jacqui Jones". Glass houses and all that. And I think you have to be thankful for what you get. So I am pinging my digital stone back (yes, that was the sound of a stretched metaphor you heard snapping).
Co-incidentally after I'd been reading about this yesterday as the Sun (and others) relentlessly milked it (as you do in the run up to Remembrance Day; classy) I was listening to my iPod on the way home and it did what it hasn't done for a long time. As I hit shuffle from somewhere it dug up a Billy Bragg song that had snuck into some Apple "Genius" created playlist. I would never knowingly listen to Billy Bragg although I used to quite like the odd tune back in the day (and who doesn't have a soft spot for "its wrong to wish on space hardware...okay just me).
I digress, anyway, it served up a song called 'It says here', which is a really old song about trade unions and The Sun newspaper and such. I Googled the lyrics this morning and as I read them over I was struck by how little (in some respects) things have changed. In the case of The Sun it is still the place "where politics mix with bingo and *** in a strictly money and numbers game". And yes there are two sides to every story.
It says here
It says here that the Unions will never learnIt says here that the economy is on the upturnAnd it says here we should be proudThat we are freeAnd our free press reflects our democracyThose braying voices on the right of the HouseAre echoed down the Street of ShameWhere politics mix with bingo and ***In a strictly money and numbers gameWhere they offer you a featureOn stockings and suspendersNext to a call for stiffer penalties for sex offendersIt says here that this year's prince is bornIt says here do you ever wishThat you were better informedAnd it says here that we can only stop the rotWith a large dose of Law and OrderAnd a touch of the short sharp shockIf this does not reflect your view you should understandThat those who own the papers also own this landAnd they'd rather you believeIn Coronation Street capersIn the war of circulation, it sells newspapersCould it be an infringementOf the freedom of the pressTo print pictures of women in states of undressWhen you wake up to the factThat your paper is ToryJust remember, there are two sides to every story
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I'm afraid that I've got to agree. It backfired and I think GB was actually trying to 'do the right thing'. The bear-baiting left even me feeling slightly sympathetic toward him. Temporarily. The Mirror is as bad though - Kevin Macguire bloke is appaling. Two sides indeed
Keep it temporary; we don't want to go changing you -;) But seriously, i think he was trying to do the right think. A lot of men have really bad handwriting (mine is as bad as brown's) and it was out of order.
Another interesting post on the subject - how things have changed...
willoughbypr.blogspot.com/.../real-callousness.html
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Newsweek clearly wanted to make Sarah Palin look at bit of an idiot with its cover that some are calling
Gordon Macmillan
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