Don't believe the hype 2
31/07/07 15:05
Some close friends of
mine were caught up in the Oxford floods last week -
with bad luck they happened to moor their canal boat
home just at the point where the Thames burst it's
banks. For a couple of days it looked like their home
might, if not get washed away, then get pulled under
as the rising water strained against the mooring
ropes.
Apparently it was a media circus down there. Colin got interviewed by ITN who asked him what the worst-case scenario was. Patiently he explained that he could lose his home. But when they broadcast the interview they cut the question and made it sound as though he was literally about to see his boat sink to the bottom. Quite naturally he was bombarded by anxious phonecalls by friends and family, worried sick on his behalf.
Surely the media aren't guilty of engineering the facts to make their tawdry half-hour 'news' programmes a little more dramatic? Perish the thought...
Apparently it was a media circus down there. Colin got interviewed by ITN who asked him what the worst-case scenario was. Patiently he explained that he could lose his home. But when they broadcast the interview they cut the question and made it sound as though he was literally about to see his boat sink to the bottom. Quite naturally he was bombarded by anxious phonecalls by friends and family, worried sick on his behalf.
Surely the media aren't guilty of engineering the facts to make their tawdry half-hour 'news' programmes a little more dramatic? Perish the thought...
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