Jon Venables case reveals the dark side of online opinion, page 1

Jon Venables case reveals the dark side of online opinion

www.guardian.co.uk

Was the tabloid press telling readers what to think in the row over the return to prison of James Bulger's killer? Or was it responding to what they thought already?

You could, in a sense, write the script the moment news of Jon Venables' "serious offence" leaked out. Think murder on the moors. Think Myra Hindley – and her doomed efforts to regain freedom. Think grief-ravaged parents from long ago, and communities bent on implacable justice. Think rampant press and quavering politicians, too.

But not, in fact, all the press – and no frontbench politician from any of the major par

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 13-3-2010 by jumpingbeanz]

Mod Edit: Review This Link: Instructions for the Breaking News Forums: Copy The Exact Headline

[edit on 3/13/2010 by semperfortis]

honestly i am so sick to my stomach right now i really don't know what to say, i have signed on facebook and non stop seen groups saying horrible nasty things about poor james RIP, it is mothers day tomorrow and all shes going to be told about is the horrible things said via facebook it has 3,000 + members and is growing,
so many people have rang the police, reported but yet nothing is done WHY WHY WHY???????

I am not going to repeat what i have seen i am sure you must have seen the sick things yourself if you have a facebook.

I cannot believe these paedophiles are roaming around doing this and getting people to be a fan just to have a verbal match with these horrible sick sadistic people, why are they feeding them.

im kind of getting the picture that they don't want us to believe what the sun newspaper says about the jailing on jon venables

FACEBOOK has been completely taken over by this and they are using peoples profile pics and hacking other peoples accounts, what the hells going on>>>????

www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 13-3-2010 by jumpingbeanz]

reply to post by Trolloks

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there where naked photos of men and women and children on there its sick as hell, that is a crime.

the whole of the uk is outraged
its not the same as a fan page the bots keep changing the name like every 2minutes and profile pics,
even one impersonating a copper too

[edit on 13-3-2010 by jumpingbeanz]

reply to post by Trolloks

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yes i bloody hope they get done for this, my little cousin is on facebook, im so angry, i think everyone will be after this, i think people are rebelling over the media because them 2 sick brats shouldn't have been tried at an adult jury, so they want to get off now and using ppl of uk to do it.

I wish i could pull people through the screen and kick the living daylights out of them for this stunt

reply to post by jumpingbeanz

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Like Trolloks mentioned, people just do it do get a rise out of someone. I know it is sick, but there is really nothing much facebook can do. If they ban the group, someone will just make a new one, if they ban a profile, someone will just create a new one. I think the best thing to do in this situation is to just ignore it, they will not post if there is no one there to react.

reply to post by EmperorZeno

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i know i don't even think one persons behind it, its botted for sure the names keep swapping left right and centre.

trust me matey if u see the page u will believe me when i say "SICK" honestly

WE NEED MORE ONLINE SAFETY

i really do believe theres a lot more behind this than meets the eye

the weirdest part is some of the links have also linked to sign up for sarahs law also and other laws.

do u think that they've done it to get more done about sex offenders and get people thinking???

[edit on 13-3-2010 by jumpingbeanz]

[edit on 13-3-2010 by jumpingbeanz]

reply to post by jumpingbeanz

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right i can't send a link to show you but have you got facebook, just type in facebook search jon venables for prime minister, honestly look at the admins and the comments they are trying to say something... i just aint sure what

I think they're using the fake names also to get a high fan count by copying other members profile pics, so just as well they will get done for privacy terms too

[edit on 13-3-2010 by jumpingbeanz]

Originally posted by EmperorZeno
reply to post by jumpingbeanz

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Like Trolloks mentioned, people just do it do get a rise out of someone.

To be honest, I think some of it is deserved and needs doing. Paedophilia, child murder (any murder for that matter) is wrong - something I hope is a given. However the role of the media and the way that the media fuel the fires of public frenzy - and the public that blindly and uncritically buy into it - should be scrutinised and ridiculed.

I see a lot of the 'getting a rise out of someone' over the last couple of weeks as part of this. The Brass Eye special which savaged the way the media, celebrities and the public play into this dynamic of hysteria was fantastic satire and as with the rest of the series, just exposed the role of MPs, celebrities, media and the public for what it actually is: farcical.

The Brass Eye paedophile special is 9 years old now, but it's every bit as valid and necessary as it was then and will be until the public learn to see the media for what it actually is. On the one hand fuelling witch hunts about the paedophile menace which must be defeated at all costs and on the other hand leading the indignation when anti-paedophile measures such as vetting adults who come into contact with children start coming into place and so on.

A similar media model is applicable to terrorists and terrorism. We've got hunt them down at all costs, as long as they don't interfere with our going on holiday, or result in new identification checks and databases, or generally interfere with our lives in any way.

A great example of how the media works is when the Brass Eye programme was first shown, and the point of it flew right over a lot of people's heads, or rather those who find it easier to knee-jerk than actually think. Many people, a lot of them in the media, actually found it sick that people were laughing at paedophilia and, by extension, thinking it was some how OK. The Daily Mail, a paper for whom knee-jerk is their bread and butter, were similarly outraged that such sick filth could be shown on British television. Yet, on the very same page, there was a photo feature showing the children of the Duke and Duchess of York on a beach in their bikinis for no reason other than to show them in their bikinis. The problem being that the two girls were only 11 and 13 at the time.

The Daily Star, in similarly 'blind to irony' measure, also decried the 'sick' nature of the show and yet, again on the same page, also ran another photo feature about the large breasted songstress Charlotte Church with the innuendo-laden strapline: She's a Big Girl Now! The problem here being that she was only 15 at the time and there was very little to the story other than a 'she's got big tits hasn't she' angle.

The whole thing - and anyone who buys into it - is practically begging to have the piss taken out of it.

reply to post by Merriman Weir

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Brilliant post which just about sums up why humour and long term (and critical) thinking is paramount to any witch hunt.

So you know I couldn't find the Facebook page in question (and I looked) so it's not too easy to come by even for those searching for it.

Is it sick to make fun of someone, who as a child, served their time for killing a 2 year old boy? Of course it is.

But humour can give us a release not much else can.

Look at any funny joke and you'll see that there is always someone who gets the brunt of the stick - it's how it all works.

Perhaps loosen the autohate and focus on why he's now back in prison - that's an important question and one which needs answered in order to audit the UK's current policies with regards to release.

-m0r

Originally posted by m0r1arty
reply to post by Merriman Weir

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Brilliant post which just about sums up why humour and long term (and critical) thinking is paramount to any witch hunt. policies with regards to release.

Thanks! The cheque is the post. Same deal in another thread?

I can understand that quick emotional reaction to any kind of topic - particularly something as charged as paedophilia or child murder - but there's something wrong with an adult who refuses to allow that initial response to subside* and allows the media to constantly keep that furore stoked-up to a fever pitch.


*although it's far, far more understandable if the adults are the parents of victims.

reply to post by Merriman Weir

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I could not agree more, I think the media is to over rated but yet everyone walks in a shop sees the headlines and automatically belief the papers version, not the real truth or justice, with any topic.

I've noticed they love digging up old stories to gain attention, so why are people buying this crap?

Originally posted by jumpingbeanz
reply to post by Merriman Weir

---

I could not agree more, I think the media is to over rated but yet everyone walks in a shop sees the headlines and automatically belief the papers version, not the real truth or justice, with any topic.

I've noticed they love digging up old stories to gain attention, so why are people buying this crap?

My hunch is that people don't think or at least don't actually think for themselves. Too many people want other people to think for them , hence the media being able to dictate what people want to think and believe, but, at the same time, those people are actually happy to think on other people's behalf and apparently always know what's best for other people.

I put it down to a weird mixture of laziness, and that particular brand of stupidity that makes stupid people think they're intelligent and know all the answers.

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