SELF-PROCLAIMED “geek comedian” Tom Scott has a funny-cause-it’s-true bit on his blog that really sticks it to crappy newspapers: Journalism Warning Labels.
“It seems a bit strange to me that the media carefully warn about and label any content that involves sex, violence or strong language — but there’s no similar labeling system for, say, sloppy journalism and other questionable content,” he writes. “I figured it was time to fix that, so I made some stickers.”
Scott claims he’s been putting them on copies of papers on the London Underground; he even offers readers a printable sheet of stickers via PDF.
Anyone with a connection to the news business would find these spot on — painfully, in some cases. In addition to the label I featured at the top, here are a few of the other better ones:
And this label I think we’ve all wanted to stick on an article, or three:
Indeed, on the blog there’s a video of him and his buddy racing around London trying to appear in the background of as many television news “stand-ups” as possible during the unveiling of the — wait for it — federal budget (?!).
It’s inane and ridiculous, yes, but I happen to like that kind of stuff and ended up watching the entire 12-minute feature:
THE GUARDIAN — one of the more highly regarded news organizations in the world — has produced this pretty cool “advert” that imagines how the paper and website would have covered the story of the Three Little Pigs. The video … Continue reading → […]
Merry Christmas to all — if you celebrate it, or even if you don’t; and even if you don’t, you’re still going to love Simon’s cat in ‘Santa Claws’ (unless you don’t like cats, in which case, forget you). Happy … Continue reading → […]
NOVEMBER HAS BECOME synonymous with “Movember,” the annual event during which guys around the world grow moustaches to raise money and awareness for men’s health, prostate cancer specifically. It’s a brilliant publicity campaign that has gathered a huge amount of … Continue reading → […]
HOW’S THAT FOR heeding a warning? Saw this head-shaking piece of work on the way into a Toronto-area hospital yesterday. If the genius driver responsible for the damage could read the sign, apparently he didn’t get the message. ryan@roadtostarrdom.com […]
CANADIAN NOVELIST Russell Smith had a thought-provoking column in the Globe and Mail a few weeks back examining the growing tendency these days for young creative people, writers in particular, to work for free. The spur for the discussion was … Continue reading → […]
Perhaps. But check out The New Yorker’s fabulous cover tribute to Jobs: Says it all really, doesn’t it? ryan@roadtostarrdom.com […]
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