tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784053810150516425.post8244114313005363694..comments2021-01-07T13:20:48.662+00:00Comments on Plum's plums: Sceptical or cynical?Plumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08068131072561763946noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784053810150516425.post-43325917719471447232013-03-19T15:28:33.313+00:002013-03-19T15:28:33.313+00:00We all have a tough time sometimes distinguishing ...We all have a tough time sometimes distinguishing between truth and fantasy so I believe it is incumbent on the media to be very careful about what they claim to be true. The "dodgy dossier" on the basis of which Tony Blair took the UK into a war is being questioned yet again about having been even more of a fabrication than was previously imagined.<br /><br />There is more than enough gullibility out there and so I wonder if perpetuating stories and urban legends which it is very easy to demonstrate are fake is a good thing for the media to be doing, whether or not they have an axe to grind.<br /><br />Maybe it's because of my personal skirmish (or should that be squirmish? TM Sarah Palin) with the press a few years ago (see blogs passim) when I was done an injustice because NONE of several professional journalists working independently of each other on a trivial story could get very simple facts right. All they had to do was look one tweet earlier in Stephen Fry's timeline before blowing up a trivial twitter spat into an international incident. <br /><br />if the press (who are trained to be analytical and spot flaws in stories and arguments) don't question the internet stories they perpetuate, what hope have the rest of us got?<br /><br />I have seen absolutely nothing about any attempts to trace the family in question, could you share anything you have read about them trying to remain anonymous, please? (frankly, I smell yet more press bullshit)<br /><br />Plumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08068131072561763946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3784053810150516425.post-87691176471960438702013-03-19T14:59:46.813+00:002013-03-19T14:59:46.813+00:00For me, there isn't any point in thinking it i...For me, there isn't any point in thinking it isn't real. For now, it gives me a warm feeling, and hope for the future. It has touched a lot of people and for some families, raised awareness and maybe made a few kids lives better. If it turns out fake later, then I will deal with that disappointment then. But even so, I believe it will have accomplished more good than harm. Btw, you ask why the media hasn't tried to ascertain the people involved, but from what I have read, there have been been attempts, and the family involved does not want any publicity. So no money is exchanging hands, no television shows, no interviews, etc. If the worst thing about this is that it raised the profile of a website, then I can live with that.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16493931658534370089noreply@blogger.com