h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This post has been removed.

This post has been removed.

Oh dear, Autist and I have got ourselves into a bit of trouble here with both of our posts having been yikes'd

Well post 41 asked about the media handling of the story that Neil and Christine Hamilton were alledgedly involved in a rape case.

My reply in post 42 was that the couple had no choice but to come out with all guns blazing. This was because the media was onto the story and had surrounded the Police station where the couple were being questioned, and if they had left without making a statement this could have looked like guilt. Particularly as Neil Hamilton is regarded as a having no reputation left owing to his defeat in two of the biggest libel trials of last 10 years. The couple were later cleared of any involvement in the alledged rape.

There was a headline in my local rag last year which was fairly typical of their editorial control.

"New warnings over bashing skarks"

(It was 'Monty flies back to front' for whoever was asking.)
From the stupid Local Paper:
ALIENS STOLE MY HAND

t'other day:
CHURCH SPRUCED UP FOR JUDGEMENT DAY
Intriguing. I read through and could find nothing at all judgement day related. Churchyard Day was mentioned, which I suppose is an understandable mistake for a simpleton journalist.

*waves to Mandagora*

Oh - those Hamiltons. I haven't enjoyed anything as much since the Fuel Crisis.

I was doing a course at the time, which involved deconstructing patterns of language. So I bought a copy of the Sun for research purposes. Honest.

I forget the headline, but the two things that stick irremovably in my mind are Christine Hamilton's jellied bloody marys (the most nauseating starter I can imagine), and the statement that the Hamiltons made saying that the accusations included 'Mrs Hamilton squatting on [the complainer's] face'.

Don't you love family newspapers?

Ben

A couple of years ago, the local paper accidentally put two headlines next to each other in the same font, same font size, with no box or shading to separate them. The resulting headline read:

"George Foreman Returns to Boxing Thousands of Pakistanis Die"

...or when they juxtapose a headline with a picture from a different article, with comedy results:
picture of someone protesting about the exclusion of large inflatable bananas from football ground, holding same, above in large letters:
MAD TRAIN IDIOTS BANNED
Tee hee!

*Gives Mandgora a * It's all on my user-page. Better off ignoring it though.

Ben