A GP writes about the "Mail"

[bindeweede]

I'm not totally sure that this is what the new part of the Forum is for, and I hope I'm not breaking copyright or anything, but I came across a neat item in the on-line "Pulse" - GP News.

I'll just quote a small amount. Anyone can register and read the whole thing.



Phil made the mistake of reading the Daily Mail’s website today – and he’s still seething.



It is part of our remit these days, via the QOF, to bring down the average blood pressure of our nation. Currently we are using drugs, but I’ve got a better and cheaper idea. We should put a bomb under the offices of the Daily Mail, and blow the whole toxic, tiny-minded, malignant, tin-pot organisation to kingdom come.


I know I shouldn’t read it for the sake of my own health, but I’ve been looking at its website today. There’s an awful lot of hatred there – asylum-seekers, illegal immigrants, bankers, muslims, gypsies, TV dancing-show judges, they all come in for their share of irrational bile. But none of them suffer the degree of bong-eyed, lunatic, envious loathing that is dealt out to GPs.


It’s worth a look. You probably thought you’d put in years of study and self-sacrifice, spent a decade or so training, passed many an expensive exam and given freely of your time, expertise and emotional resources for a vocation that, although it pays reasonably well, saps the soul and drains the will in a neverending, ultimately futile struggle against the dying of the light.


But you’d be wrong. We’re morons. Not only are we stupid, we’re callous, selfish, clannish and a waste of taxpayers’ money. And, as the Daily Mail reports erroneously on literally a daily basis, we are a shocking drain on the honest citizen – our pay has gone up by 50% in the past three years. It’s a minor point and I don’t know about you, but mine has gone down by 10%.http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=20&storycode=4123809&c=2

[Harryprice]

I'm not totally sure that this is what the new part of the Forum is for, and I hope I'm not breaking copyright or anything, ...

Short quotes, attributed, are OK under copyright. Of course, the question then becomes, what is short ...

[Julia]

I wonder if he saw the pusillanimous, puke-inducing puff piece about Pengelly?!

[dalriada]

I wonder if he saw the pusillanimous, puke-inducing puff piece about Pengelly?!

The Press Complaints Commission did.. O0

[Julia]

Has there been an official response from the PCC yet?

[dalriada]

Not yet...I got the following email (I expect others did too)


reference 094340

Your complaint will now be assessed as to whether it requires investigation under the Code. If this appears to be the case we will ask the editor to deal with your complaint. A copy of the Code of Practice which all newspapers and magazines who subscribe adhere to, can be accessed using this web link: http://www.pcc.org.uk/cop/practice.html

Our aim is to resolve all complaints that raise a possible breach of the Code amicably and quickly. It might be useful if I therefore set out a number of points about our procedures.


- As part of a full and fair investigation we must ensure that each party to a complaint is able to see and comment upon what the other has to say.


- The Commission has a commitment to deal with all complaints as speedily as possible. It expects both complainants and newspapers – and their representatives, legal or otherwise – to cooperate with that commitment. Any unreasonable delay on either side may be taken into account by the Commission.


- We will usually send a copy of each letter of complaint to the editor even if the complaint does not raise a breach of the Code. It is important that editors are aware of criticisms of their publications. Similarly, any substantive decision made by the Commission under the terms of the Code will be sent to the editor.


- The Commission is not able to deal with all complaints. Some of the circumstances in which we may not be able to pursue a complaint are set out on our website.


- It is possible that the Commission may find that your complaint does not amount to a breach of the Code. If this is the case we will explain to you why the Commission took this decision.


- If, at the end of the process, you are dissatisfied with the manner in which your complaint has been handled, you should write within one month to the independent Charter Commissioner who will investigate the matter and report any findings and recommendations to the Commission. Further details are included on our website.

Further information about the complaints process can be accessed using this web link: http://www.pcc.org.uk/complaints/process.html


Information about our service commitments to complainants can be accessed using this web link: http://www.pcc.org.uk/complaint/charter.html.

Further information about the PCC can be found on our website www.pcc.org.uk .

Do not hesitate to contact us if you need further advice. When you write to us, please quote our reference number on this email.


Yours sincerely

Simon Yip

[Julia]

Damn! Just for a minute you got me all excited. Still, at least I'm not the only person who brought that atrocious article to the attention of the PCC.

It says a lot about the ethics of the PR industry that it trumpeted the placement of an article which DIDN'T EVEN MENTION THE ILLEGALITY OF PENGELLY'S CLAIMS as a "triumph"!

[Floppit]

On the subject of the OP I don't have much sympathy with the GP who wrote it, not because I think he is wrong but because he went and read a paper that spews bile and then found the bile somehow more upsetting in respect to his own community than it would be in respect to all the other groups that come under it's attack. I'm not a GP but I have belonged to groups slated by the Mail. I don't want to be the select group of people the daily Mail approves of, I'd probably have to be a Daily Mail reader to achieve that!

I would understand a rebuttal of the claims, however tedious it is to have to keep doing that it has a place but not the surprise and emotion. The Mail is trash, some people believe trash, it's sad some people believe trash but not surprising.

[Croydon Bob]

I don't want to be the select group of people the daily Mail approves of, I'd probably have to be a Daily Mail reader to achieve that!

I think that the Ha'penny Liar has complete contempt for most of its own readers. It wouldn't spew shit at them if it approved of them in a positive way.

If you happen to pick a copy up, as I did recently, try looking at the "FeMail" page. Articles always seem to be something along the lines of: "We're all strong feminists here, and the real way to be a feminist is to stay at home having babies and do whatever your husband tells you, otherwise you are a filthy socialist lesbian whore." I am barely exaggerating at all.

[bazoomerang]

Yes, why does Edvard Ernst write for the Mail, seems odd that there is a conflict here? Is he not concerned that association with 'bile' might not rub off here somewhat?

[chaggle]

Yes, why does Edvard Ernst write for the Mail, seems odd that there is a conflict here? Is he not concerned that association with 'bile' might not rub off here somewhat?

Does he? I didn't know that.

[bindeweede]

NICE responds to a Daily Mail article.

http://www.nice.org.uk/newsroom/news/NICERespondsToDailyMailStory.jsp

[Tony Williams]

NICE responds to a Daily Mail article.

http://www.nice.org.uk/newsroom/news/NICERespondsToDailyMailStory.jsp

I wonder if the Mail will print a correction which is as prominent as the original story - or even at all?