Reporting the news....

[aussie_paul]

The New Zealand Press...A tough looking guy is at Auckland zoo with his kids when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion"s cage.Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the cuff of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents. The guy runs toward the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch.Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the guy brings her to her terrified parents who thank him endlessly. Nicky Hager, also at the zoo visiting his family (the simians) has watched the whole event.Nicky Hager addresses the guy and says, "Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I"ve seen a man do in my whole life." The guy replies, "Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger and acted as I felt right." Nicky Hager says, "Well, I"ll make sure this won"t go unnoticed. I"m a journalist, and tomorrow"s paper will have this story on the front page...So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliations do you have?" The guy is embarrassed but replies, "I"m an SAS grunt just returned from Afghanistan and a National party supporter". Nicky Hager notes all this down then leaves.The following morning the guy buys the paper to see news of his actions, and reads, on the front page:SAS SOLDIER ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH And that my friends, pretty much sums up the media"s approach to the news these days.Aussie Paul.

[MadMuz]

Yup, sure is Paul.... twist it in the direction you want it to go, and run with it....Media reporting 101! :

[blakemorem]

Never let truth get in the way of a good story. I recall a fella topped himself after an ACA attack. And then the reporter had a nervous breakdown after the incident. The reporter was hosted on Australia story i think. I was appalled at the ACA program. It was the cheap journalism attacking a electronic repair business with the blown fuse trick, i think they were charged $20 dollars. Two things 1.if it was just a blown fuse why didn"t they change it and not waste business time(if qualified to do so)May be do the apprenticeship first then change the fuse. 2. We were trained to do checks before replacing fuse as you will cause more damage and fuses don"t blow for no reason, well except for power surge and lightning which will generally cause more damage or a thousand start survey fuse. (wont talk about that). So the media got a good story and ruined a business and the owner topped himself. If the journalist saw this she would have another melt down because it"s another truth and i have never forgotten it. Yeah some tradies are bodgy but the media need to be careful as they are not trained in the fields they investigate and can cause enormous damage to business and those that care may have a conscience like the lady journalist that had a nervous breakdown. Mike.

[MadMuz]

True Blake, most electrical places have a "minimum charge" whether it is broken wire or a blown fuse, it still can take time to find it and check for the cause.I do like the ones where they get a girl to take a car with a disconnected or loose injector plug.... the mechanic tries to charge a grand for a new computer or something like that... they are good busts, and one hopes the mechanic does top himself (nah, not really.... well, maybe a little) ;D

[mad max]

When I was in business if a nice old lady came in with a minor fault that I sorted in 5 mins. I"d often say when asked how much "A cuddle will do" Had some interesting results. Never accused of being a pervert ;D

[blakemorem]

Yep and poor old granny May pays her insurance so loyally only to find out that her repair is not covered. I would put thru a dummy job in the system and granny may was covered. I used to get audited by the insurance and they aint that clever really just cunning and dishonest that"s how they have sh!t loads of money but knowledge is the primary resourse and you can be smarter than them if you want as it wasn"t their system i guess i got their attention when they got no money.Mike

[MadMuz]

When I was in business if a nice old lady came in with a minor fault that I sorted in 5 mins. I"d often say when asked how much "A cuddle will do" Had some interesting results. Never accused of being a pervert ;DWow Max, you are a nice guy after all? I thought you were going to say "get those dentures out lady!" ;D