The ability of the Murdoch goons at the Super Soaraway Currant Bun to put stories on the front page that are totally untrue is well known. But what of the back page, the sports coverage? Does the veracity of the copy improve at the other end of the paper? Sadly, if the ridiculous claim made in an article about the weekend’s Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix is anything to go by, the answer is that no, it doesn’t.
British (but now expat) Lewis Hamilton won the race in his Mercedes, after his team prevailed upon team-mate Valtteri Bottas, like Hamilton a resident of Monaco, to let him through from second place. Hamilton therefore got to chat with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, as the head of Moscow’s gangster régime gets to hand out the prizes, because, well, it’s his show. And that is where the Sun went wrong.
“VLAD’S MAD … Vladimir Putin warned Lewis Hamilton not to spray him with champagne after Russian Grand Prix win … Hamilton drenched the Russian president on the podium three years ago and Putin made sure he got his orders in after British ace had powered to victory in Sochi” howled the headline. And what orders might those be?
“VLADIMIR PUTIN attempted to put the frighteners on Lewis Hamilton when he ordered him to to [?] drench him with champagne … Hamilton had powered to victory at the Russian Grand Prix to extend his lead in the race for the world title to 50 points … But no sooner had he leapt out of his car, he was being hauled in for a warning by the Russian president to ensure the Brit did nothing to embarrass him”. Yes? Yes yes? Yes yes yes?
“Three years ago a fearless Hamilton had soaked Putin on the podium by spraying him with champagne … At the time the leader laughed it off - but clearly the memory burned deep as he wasted little time telling the Mercedes star not to repeat the trick … Through his interpreter he conveyed the message as they waited to go out for the trophy presentations - catching Hamilton off guard”. Really? Do go on.
“In the green room after the race, Putin is caught on TV speaking to a translator, who turned to Hamilton and said: ‘I am accustomed to warning you something each year. Year, after year…’”. Except that isn’t what Putin, or the translator, said.
As Yelena McCafferty, who just happens to be a Russian translator, pointed out to the inmates of the Baby Shard bunker, “Dear @TheSun Putin didn't say ‘I am accustomed to warning you’ in Russian, he said ‘I am accustomed to awarding you [with] something each year’. The interpreter dropped ‘with’ and you misheard ‘awarding’ for ‘warning’. Your headline therefore is wrong”. And so is the rest of the article.
So when the Sun article carries on with “The 33-year-old did not cave in under pressure”, we now know there was no pressure for him to cave in to. It’s another crock of crap.
Not all mafiosi behave like the Murdoch mafiosi. I’ll just leave that one there.
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Living on Merseyside it's thankfully not often I see a copy of The S*n, but I was heartily chuffed to spot one on sale in a supermarket only last week that had no front cover, in that they have been reduced to wraparound advertisements. This, as BBC1 drama Press told us, is for papers in dire straits. Always good to see that Murdoch's rag doesn't have the pull it once had
ReplyDeleteRussians were obviously busy spraying CS gas in a Bournemouth night club too.
ReplyDeleteFuck knows where they get the time to do that as well as Salisbury and interfering in every election everywhere. The bastards.
Even if he had, what's the problem? It's a ridiculous practice. I wouldn't want to be sprayed with champagne.
ReplyDeleteDoes The Sun have a Just Giving page where readers can send three and fourpence?
ReplyDeleteMark 09:57 – If wrap around covers are a sign of a paper in dire straits then, as recent events will show, they are nearly all in that state. The fact is that if they are offered money to hide the usual front and back pages in an advert then the accountants will overrule the routine. The Metro recently had a wrap around promo for some lame TV show based in Hong Kong that had nearly all the words in indecipherable (to most English speakers) Chinese characters: this edition was apparently the lowest take up of a free newspaper this year.
ReplyDeleteAs for the back pages, sports reporters are kind of the media equivalent of the old school sport teacher – focused on a single subject with knitted brow and easy to confuse, so that they could mishear or misinterpret something and run with it as though wearing blinkers.
Anon @13.28, I think its true to say all newspapers of any colour are in dead lumber these days. It's a dying trade alas since it is now so much easier and convenient to read news on your phones in the morning commute or, as you say, pick up a free paper on the train. But I feel it's a palpable hit for 'The Super Soaraway S*n' to openly display such hardships and one we should take heart from. They're still puffing their chests out making out like they are the voice of the people who hold great influence in the corridors of power but if they're resorting to extra income from advertisements that hide their headlines then its a preening posture that's looking remarkably, satisfyingly hollow
ReplyDelete