Are We All Really So Dumb?

As I'm sure you'll pick up on, I truly despair of mankind. As Bill pointed out, we're a virus with shoes. In fact, the powers that be (the media!) seem to see us a somewhat lower than that. Two examples this week, that appear to back up the points made by minds greater than mine this week.

Exhibit A

The affair of the photographs of British soldiers tying up Iraqi civilians and prisoners which turned out to be fabricated by, or for the newspaper appears to have opened the floodgates of condescending reporting and photos.

What really annoys me on the TV news is the use of imagery. They are doing a report on the number of say, muggings having doubled. They will then show you a stereotypical picture of a "youth", in a "hoodie" and a scarf over his face. Over this they lay a big banner headline of, say "MUGGINGS DOUBLED".

They will then bring on a bar chart showing one bar, double the size of the other. Can you see where I'm going with this? The earnest reporter will then tell us again that the report fresh out today that muggings have doubled... A social commentator will be wheeled out (WHY CAN'T IT BE ME!!!) to say that not only have muggings doubled, but there is now twice as many of them.

Now, for my money the only way to end this report is for the earnest young reporter (and the social commentator) to get mugged. Twice.

This pales into insignificance next to the pictures in the Sun this week (yeah, yeah, sorry it was on my desk, just for research...) and their reporting of the Great White Shark off the coast of Cornwall (Oddly enough reported the same day as Jaws was on TV - am I seeing conspiracies which aren't there?). Next to the (brief) report, was a picture of a shark leaping out of the sea, close on the tail of a pair of Dolphins.

Something about the picture didn't look right. I read the caption "An Artists impression of what a Shark chasing a dolphin off Cornwall might look like." All it needed was giant Cornish pasty in the background.

I was mildly amused. I turned the page to see a report on the allegations of NASA astronauts flying when drunk. Next to it, a picture of a fully suited Astronaut, in space, holding a bottle of beer. Thanks. I wasn't sure what they meant. And yes they did tell us that it was an artists impression. Heaven forbid I thought that's how it actually happened.

Exhibit B

The naming of animals in distress. Tonight's news about the Minky Whale trapped in a dock somewhere. Or should I say "Marvin the Minky Whale"... really.

It's like "Willy the Whale" who got trapped up the Thames last year - apparently T-shirts were on sale with hours.

Where will this stop? How about Billy the Baboon as he pulls your wing mirrors off at a safari park. Or better still Davey the Baby eating Dingo? - Or how about Sammy The Great White Shark !

In looking for pictures to go with this blog, I went to the Sun website to find either of the pictures mentioned above. I was greeted with the headline - "HELP GIVE OUR SHARKEY A NAME"

I rest my case. We don't even deserve shoes.

In case you weren't sure, please see attached an artists impression of a man reading a newspaper.

(How about "Virus The Shark"?)