are us.

We read and watch and hear and adore the MEDIA and we want a good story.

And we employ and pay for and encourage the police to give us a good story.

So, if what really has happened here is a tale of useless people behaving in a stupid way, we want it to involve SERIOUS crimes and we want people arrested and locked up and tried and convicted.

We want innocent children and others to suffer so we can say "oh dear" over our coffee and cornflakes.

My time inside and my personal experiences revealed to me the truth - that exaggeration and inflation are the real sins and that every one of us can be painted as a monster if the police, media and judicial system get to us, preening in front of the public mirrors.

Doesn't it sum up life in general JK ? Look at the most popular magazines and TV programmes. All sensationalism and the most exaggerated gossip you could find anywhere.
Sadly people crave those things as entertainment. As a child I was not allowed to watch ITV as it wasn't considered educational enough. Now I have to turn to the extra channels to find something remotely educational or interesting. Soaps are on every day. The newspapers are full of fabricated tripe, rather than something factual and the public seem to demand soap style baddies and scapegoats.

We are told it's OUR fault. I don't buy newspapers nor do I read them. I don't contribute to them through my pocket or through my eyes.

Using you as an example JK, how many people who have an opinion on you actually know anything about you or have taken any time to read facts ? How many of them would want to, as they are happier to believe what they are told to believe ?

In the case of Shannon Matthews, the media immediately supported the family without pointing out their class. The family themselves then complained that they weren't getting the attention as much as Madeleine McCann's family got,because they were lower class.Now the media would have you believe it was all one major scam but will the truth ever out or will one version fabricated by detectives, eventually be considered to be the truth ?

Meanwhile Mr and Mrs McCann continue to promote their cause and insist on the media and other outlets being involved in some alert system for when a child does go missing. Hopefully this system will involve not leaving small children out of sight in an unlocked hotel room in a foreign country for any length of time.

Brilliant point JK - and one which has been slowly dawning on me for the past few years - I never thought of it before so does that mean I'm getting brighter or the problem is getting more obvious?

mikemacca wrote:

We are told it's OUR fault. I don't buy newspapers nor do I read them. I don't contribute to them through my pocket or through my eyes.

Can't argue with any of the opinions in that post, but would like to draw your attention to the thread below.

You and many other regular contributors on this board have expressed a variety of opinions and theories on the Shannon story, which I think adds further merit to JK's opinion that we do love a good story on the whole.

agreed.

It's almost impossible to read newspapers these days and not be influenced. They have always perpetuated their owner's propaganda or played to the public's prejudice of the day but over the last 20 years it's got worse with compliant politicians and sophisticated police media units which distort and exagerate.

The Shannon Matthew's case is a classic example with the police on their band wagon about the thousands of sex offendors within a certain area of the Matthew's home who they had to locate. This whipped up the usual frenzy for no reason and could have been counter-productive for any policing purposes. But it's like they have to work to newspaper deadlines and produce a story each day to satisfy tabloid editors and us.

Or do we really want to read this all the time ?
Newspaper sales and down and the internet is taking over.

All this frenzy leads to tragedies like a young Brazillian electrician going about his lawful business, being shot to death on the tube and those responsible getting off scot-free.

Sly Cunning... the words that strike one when looking at the pictures of this lot from Day One.

Typical tabloid readers, some might say.

So, if something dodgy has gone on, where did the idea come from?

Answer - the media.

Whether it be shameless or the McCanns... media inflation and colouring is the greatest influence on society today.
And we are all paying the price - why?
Because we all want bigger and better stories.