Sniffing out media bullshit made easy

Posted by Bel. The time is 2.55pm here in Wellington NZ

Journalists love to think of themselves as always pointing the finger and blowing the whistle. Stuff pass themselves off as a crack team of deadline chasing newshounds, with a promotional campaign touting "If our team don't break stories first, there are consequences."

But more often than not, the press dish up a disappointing array of shallow stories, leading with whatever is most salacious, rather than most informative.

The impetus is more and more on the media participant (and yes, I carefully use that word instead of audience!) to ensure that they are consuming from a variety of sources and not just accepting "news" at face value.

UK based geek comedian Tom Scott is kicking back with his series of "journalism warning stickers".

You can read more about his project here, including downloading the template (link is at the bottom of the page) and printing off your own!