News reporting
In this age of new truth, fake news, etc I have posted an article about the changing focus of IS towards sub-Saharan Africa away from the Middle East. I was going to put the following note on after the link to the article:
Please note that news organisations have a tendancy to look to hunt out news even where there is none and that this can distort reality - factually correct, but not necessarily representative of the wider situation in an area.
And then I realised that this is actually not specific to the article I linked to but to press reporting in general. It is my experience that the journalists have a tendency to write the headline to grab the attention, ideally grab a picture of carnage, someone holding a big gun or an atractive young lady (ideally all three) and then write the story to fit the headline, photo and the political views of the person paying them. You may, correctly, assume that I have a somewhat jaundiced view of journalists and their trade.
But the question remains, am I right to be so jaundiced?
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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.
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