British tabloid does a British tabloid thing again
British tabloid theMirrorhas decided to try something a little different. With its peersimplicating videogames in school shootings, this particular rag has a new approach — blaming games for giving kids cancer.
Interestingly, none of the experts cited in the article actuallysaygames give us cancer — they simply talk about the commonly known problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle. That didn’t stop theMirrorfrom running the headline, “TV & COMPUTER CRAZE IS GIVING CHILDREN CANCER.”
The “exclusive” article, penned by real-life journalist Andrew Gregory, goes on to claim, “Children who are hooked on TV, computer games and the web are at a greater risk of getting cancer in later life.” Those people quoted in the rest of the story, however, make no specific mention of such activities.
In fact, a spokesperson for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Healthexplicitly told CVGthat, despite what theMirrorclaimed, it had made no mention of videogames at all, claiming that was a subject it was “not commenting on.”
It’s ironic that, as old media continues to get its ass handed to it by new media, all it can think to do is attack and vilify it. You’d think the wiser approach would be to try and appeal to the audience thatenjoysthis kind of media, rather than alienate or insult it.
Instead, it tries to play on the preconceptions and fears of its existing, aging, soon-to-be-dead audience.
