Shark-concocted waters

Posted by Bridgit Gread on Monday 26 May 2008, 5:19 pm
Categories: Media  Tags: Tags: , , , ,

Sharks. They’re everywhere, just waiting to eat us. Even when they’re, umm, not actually there:

As sharks prowled, forgotten divers waited … and waited
A British holidaymaker and his American girlfriend who survived for 19 hours in shark-infested waters off the Great Barrier Reef, have told how a rescue helicopter failed to spot them waving frantically for help. ‘I truly thought we were going to die. Sharks were on our mind the entire time - but neither of us mentioned the “S” word,’ said Neely, from Norfolk. ‘We just had to stay positive and calm to help each other through the ordeal and not think about being eaten alive.” (Source)

But did they actually see any sharks? Nope. Neither were they quoted as seeing any in the following news reports, even though they all mention or imply the presence of sharks:

Divers saved after night in sea of sharks (Times Online)
19-hour hell in shark-infested seas (Express, check out the pic!)
As sharks prowled, forgotten divers waited (Guardian)
Norfolk diver rescued from sharks (Norwich Evening News)
19 hours of sharks, stingers and sea snakes (News.com)

The Herald Sun even goes so far as to include a pointer box that includes this statement:

Sharks were circling the pair

Remember - they’ve given only one official interview thus far (to the UK’s Sunday Mirror) and didn’t admit to seeing any sharks. Not one single shark. But they were there… they were there!

Teachers, sharks form unholy alliance

Posted by Bridgit Gread on Wednesday 9 April 2008, 2:56 pm
Categories: Education, Media  Tags: Tags: , ,

Usually when two unrelated events are juxtaposed nobody gives a toss - except tabloid reporters. To them, some chains-of-events are logically connected. Teachers go on strike… kids get day off school… kids go surfing… kid gets bitten by a shark and dies… teachers indirectly responsible. Otherwise why would just about every major media outlet mention the teachers’ strike within the first two or three pars of their stories? And then there’s this buffoonery in their online comments:

Let’s hope that the teachers who were on strike, and in particular the teachers who would normally have been teaching Brock and Peter today, suffer lifelong guilty consciences because of their ultimately deadly decision not to work today. It’s time teachers woke up to themselves, and realised that their petty strike actions can have potentially far-reaching and disastrous effects way beyond the reaches of the classrooms and innocent children they desert. Yet another nail in the coffin of teachers’ credibility? You bet. RIP Peter.
Posted by: ausGeoff of Frankston

Of course if it wasn’t teachers - and perhaps sharks - then it would barely rate a mention. Otherwise we should expect to see similar stretches of logic like:

McDonald’s outrage: kid hit by truck while crossing road for burger

…or…

Man dies from heart attack while jogging; family sues Adidas

…or…

Blogger electrocuted while reading GrodsCorp; Editor to blame



Top Of Page

GrodsThink

    GrodsCorp's weekly podcast featuring the GrodsTeam and guests discussing politics, media, society and the internet. (Episode archive)
    Subscribe:   

    icon for podpress  GrodsThink Ep.29 (26/8/08)
    Play in Popup | Download

Categories

Archives

Worth reading