What a coincidence...
The Skimmer 2:29pm
Ed Howker's weekend post about life in Rochdale – and The Spectator's study of welfare ghettos – has
made the news today. There's a powerful spread in The Sun, with full and due attribution to
the source. But the Daily Mail also ran the figures, incorrectly attributing them to
the DWP. (We expressed DWP dole figures as a share of ONS population estimates. The resulting ratio only we produced.) We at The Spectator have no doubt that the Daily Mail reporter did actually
visit Rochdale. It's just that her material looks as if it could have been copied from Ed's Coffee House post. Here are some coincidental overlaps:
Coffee House source: "Everyone wants 'the sickness' [incapacity benefit]. Then you've really made it. You don't have to turn up for work or sign on. Everything is taken care
of."
Anonymous 'local' quoted by the Daily Mail: "Everyone wants 'the sickness' [incapacity benefit]" one said. "Then you've really made it. You don't have to turn up for
work or sign on. Everything is taken care of."
Coffee House: "The streets are litterless ... the only things blooming on the estate are the flower boxes."
Mail: "The streets of Lower Falinge estate ... no litter on the pavements and window boxes bloomed outside."
Coffee House: "The other major retailer is a betting shop. A local cafe offers a £4.70 breakfast that includes a can of Stella."
Mail: "Of the shops and pubs that aren't boarded up the one attracting the most custom yesterday was the bookmakers, while the cafe offers a £4.70 breakfast that
includes a can of Stella."
Coffee House: "Rochdale's immigrant population jumped from 4,000 to 15,000 over the Labour years." (this is unpublished data)
Mail: "The number of immigrats in Rochdale has soared from 4,000 to 15,0000 during Labour's time in office."
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lescam
October 11th, 2010 3:01pm Report this commentDon't look like "coincidental overlaps" to me, more like blatant copying, with no acknowledgment.
In the words of the late Ian Fleming;
"once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and three times is enemy action".
wrinkled weasel
October 11th, 2010 3:19pm Report this commentUs bottom feeders, the Bloggers, should be ashamed, ashamed I say, at the depth of investigative reporting that real journalists must achieve in order to maintain their professional distance from us.
Dog Snob
October 11th, 2010 3:24pm Report this commentIt's all perfectly legal and downloadable on hackify.com
Aazim Shehzaad
October 11th, 2010 3:49pm Report this commentAll benifits should be given to ethnic minorities as they spend it best!
Greenslime
October 11th, 2010 4:06pm Report this commentAre you surprised. The Mail frequently shoves a few words around and then reprints articles from other sources as its own.
Guido Fawkes
October 11th, 2010 5:27pm Report this commentAndrew "Magpie" Pierce has been recycling my stuff for weeks.
Swiss Bob
October 11th, 2010 5:40pm Report this commentTo paraphrase WW.
My heart bleeds for you.
Chris
October 11th, 2010 5:41pm Report this commentlescam, you might want to look up 'irony' in your dictionary.
Swiss Bob
October 11th, 2010 5:43pm Report this commentPS You can hardly complain given that you do exactly the same thing, but I guess it's OK when it's just content from other blogs.
Kennybhoy
October 11th, 2010 9:42pm Report this commentGuido writes.
"Andrew "Magpie" Pierce has been recycling my stuff for weeks."
A compliment?
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