The copy churned out by the obedient hackery of the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre at the Daily Mail on the subject of Amanda Knox, who has finally been declared innocent of any participation in the murder of Meredith Kercher in the Italian town of Perugia in November 2007, was slanted from the very start to tell readers one thing, and one thing only: that Ms Knox not only did it, but also that she was a very bad person indeed.
What the f***'s wrong with kicking some foreigner to get more sales, c***?!? Er, with the greatest of respect, Mr Jay
And the evidence for the Mail’s assault on Ms Knox’s character was so weak as to verge on non-existent: nudges, winks, prejudicial headlines, and the knowledge that the paper was not going to face contempt of court charges because the trial was in Italy, which, as all loyal Daily Mail readers know, is a country full of dodgy people who talk foreign, and whose legal system, being different to that in the UK, must therefore be rubbish.
The Mail called Ms Knox the baddie from the get-go: “Foxy Knoxy: Inside the twisted world of flatmate suspected of Meredith's murder” screamed an early headline, revealing, er, that her MySpace page had been trawled for cheap copy. This was clearly not down to the level demanded by the Vagina Monologue, and so it was soon followed by “Foxy Knoxy, the girl who had to compete with her own mother for men”.
As Sir Sean nearly said, I think we got the point. Then came “The wild, raunchy past of Foxy Knoxy”, Andrew Malone’s hatchet job being based on Ms Knox having been up in court in Seattle for organising a party that got out of hand, which is totally different to a group of hacks getting ratarsed in London, upending litter bins and throwing up in the back of taxis whose drivers are not quick enough to spot trouble at fifty paces.
Fast forward to Ms Knox’s appeal against being fitted up for the murder of Ms Kercher in 2011, and the Mail infamously published the claim that she had lost that appeal, together with quotes about the aftermath which were entirely made up - because she did not lose the appeal. Freelance Nick Pisa had produced two versions of the story. He didn’t think making stuff up was wrong. Neither he nor the Mail said sorry to Ms Knox.
And even this week, in the run-up to the final appeal, the Mail has been loading its coverage to suggest She Did It. “Amanda Knox faces extradition battle if Italy upholds murder conviction” warned Monday’s headline. Then the next day came “Foxy Knoxy's ex love Raffaele Sollecito blows a hole in her alibi at time of Meredith Kercher's murder - on eve of final appeal”. So she had still done it.
On Thursday, readers were told “An Italian prosecutor told the country's top court Wednesday that Amanda Knox's conviction for the sensational murder of British student Meredith Kercher was ‘beyond reproach’”. Well, now Ms Knox has been declared innocent. The case, according to one watcher, should never have been brought against her. But will the Mail say sorry this time? Will it heck.
Paul Dacre should hang his head in shame and personally apologise to Ms Knox. He won’t because he’s not capable of it. Bullies never are.
2 comments:
"Paul Dacre should hang his head in shame"
Well, according to that Daily Mail front page shown on your previous blog of the coverage of that unfortunate plane disaster, they are atoning by giving away a bag free of what his readers have paid to have been served up with for years.
Not much comfort for the rest of us I suppose but something for his undiscerning audience.
Will hope of change spring eternal sprouts?
My recollection is that both versions of the 2011 appeal story were briefly up together,but with only the real one linked to from the home page.
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