Calm down, newspapers do it all the time

Were it the Guardian that had fatally jumped the gun on the Amanda Knox verdict, would it still have provoked the howls of outrage that the Daily Mail doing so did? Even though they did, their gun-jumping was seemingly only a short entry in their minute by minute report. Sky also got it wrong, shortly running a breaking news strap on Knox being found guilty, and the Sun was equally misinformed.

While other media organisations mis-steps were mentioned only in passing, the Daily Mail's was discussed, analysed and picked apart. Apart from Fleet Street Fox - who pointed out that the practice of preparing two different stories for either way decisions is not only widespread, but commonly accepted - the blogosphere went mad over a story that was up for depending on who you listen to, just 90 seconds, or slightly longer than that.

However long it was up, it was enough time for Political Scrapbook to pick up a cached copy of the page, and it really does make interesting reading. There is only really one the Mail needed to take out to cover themselves with this story and that is the four paragraphs of simply made up quotes and reaction. That's the part that if taken out would have just made it a huge cock up, rather than the far more serious journalistic crime of making it up.

"As Knox realized the enormity of what judge Hellman was saying she sank into her chair sobbing uncontrollably while her family and friends hugged each other in tears.


A few feet away Meredith's mother Arline, her sister Stephanie and brother Lyle, who had flown in especially for the verdict remained expressionless, staring straight ahead, glancing over just once at the distraught Knox family.


Prosecutors were delighted with the verdict and said that 'justice has been done' although they said on a 'human factor it was sad two young people would be spending years in jail'.


Both Knox and Sollecito who have always denied any involvement in the brutal murder - said they would take the case to the third and final level of appeal at the Supreme Court in Rome where it will probably be heard late next year"


If you take those four paragraphs out, and the rest is fine, and even the prosecutor quote was apparently agreed in advance by the Daily Mail, if that's true that makes the vast majority of the story fine. Even the fourth paragraph is a reasonable assumption to make, that if Knox had been found guilty again she would have taken the appeal up a level. In the end the Mail has been crucified for some silly background details, made up by a journalist under pressure. It's hardly the crime of the century, and considering some of the other huge distortions it peddles, it seems like an honest mistake from an overworked hack.

Day 8 - A song that you know all the words to

One of my favourite songs ever, the sweetest saddest romantic song. Fountains of Wayne rarely do abstract lyrics, but for straight up narrative songs, and the catchiest hooks, they're almost unbeatable.

This is a live version, and it's worth watching, just for the emotion he puts into singing it, almost even better than the studio version.



Oh, and for HIMYM fans, there's Barney's doppelgänger!

Day 7 - A song that reminds you of a certain event

There could be quite a few of these as I am in the habit of associating songs with different events in my life, and there have been so many that fall into this category. In the end I'm picking one that reminds me of the most heartbreaking game of football I've ever seen, it was played at half time, the album it's on (Employment) was played in the car before and afterwards (two and a half times afterwards), so I'm pretty sure I heard this song at least four time times that day.

Charlton 2 - 1 Leyton Orient... fuck you Jay Bothroyd, celebrating like you'd just won the cup!

Leicestershire v Essex - Grace Road - Day 2

Firstly, an apology for neglecting this blog. I'm not sure who I'm apologising too as it's obvious that pretty much nobody is reading my blog, although if you are, thanks for coming along, and I'll try to blog a little more in the coming weeks and months.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Leicestershire to watch the County Championship match against Essex, and I'm pleased to say a resounding victory for an improving Essex team.

True, Leicestershire are marooned to the bottom of Division 2, and have only won only once this season, but with the bat at least they had danger men. One such danger for Essex was man mountain opener Will Jefferson, who can take apart county attacks on his day, and up until he reached 50 in Leicestershire's first innings that was exactly what he was doing.

Then for the first time in the match bar a single exploratory over immediately before lunch, enter Tom Craddock, Essex's young leg-spinner. Straight away he set about reducing the scoring rate, which was threatening to take the game away from Essex, as well as looking likely to take wickets with a combination of spin, flight and guile.

In the end Craddock was not the one to take the wicket of Jefferson, as he fell to the ever dependable David Masters who after a poor opening spell from the Pavillion End, returned with some accurate and probing bowling from the Bennett end before eventually getting a length ball to jag away from Jefferson, catch the edge of his bat and end up in the hands of Matt Walker at second slip.

Walker was one of the few Essex batsman - alongside Ryan ten Doeschate - not to make a significant score in either innings, in a return to form for the Essex top order. I can't comment to much on Essex's batting as most of that happened on Days 1 and 3 when I wasn't there, but I caught a reasonable portion of James Foster's magnificent rearguard effort as he marshalled No.10 Craddock to a respectable score. Craddock made only 11 in 99 minutes at the crease, but he defended stoically when Foster gave him the strike, and was quick between the wickets for countless last ball singles that kept him at the non-strikers end.

After Jefferson's rapid start, and a partnership of 109 with opening partner Boyce, Leicestershire wickets started to fall regularly, with Craddock the man to get the first one, when the left handed Boyce cut a straight one into the hands of Owais Shah at point, before Jefferson departed to Masters. Craddock then took control, bowling with flight, guile and spin to root out danger man James Taylor to an excellent catch at short leg by Billy Godleman, then trapping captain McDonald LBW with a ball that kept a little low.

Greg Smith was the next to fall, clean bowled by Maurice Chambers, who apart from that one wicket was otherwise pretty inconsistent and not particularly threatening. Craddock continued to bowl excellently, taking another wicket, that of Wayne White, LBW, before David Masters got Jigar Naik caught at slip by Owais Shah with the last ball of the day.

Shot of the Day
Honourable mentions go to a magnificent six over long on by Foster, and a superb (and unexpected) flick through the leg side by Craddock, but Will Jefferson's back foot drive down the ground has to be the winner. 6'10" Jefferson stood up tall and punched the ball into the ground, it looked like a normal defensive shot until the fielders realised how well he had timed it, by which point it had ran away for four well deserved runs.

Ball of the Day
This is basically a competition between five or six balls by Tom Craddock, it could have been the excellent top-spinner with which he snared James Taylor or his second LBW which beat the batsman beautifully in the flight, but in the end I'm going to give it to the leg break that was so good that it pitched outside leg, beat the batsman's defensive push, the stumps, the keeper and ran away for four byes...

I know it's early but..

... I'm going to stop counting albums. I'm just too lazy to write up a blog-post every time I listen to a new album.

Album 20 - Pulp - Different Class

Jarvis Cocker is a very funny man and a very witty man too, and he showcases this in Pulp's breakthrough album Different Class. Of course I'd already heard 'Common People' and 'Disco 2000' before, but the album has a lot more than that. Like the openener 'Mis-Shapes' which is so grandly theatrical it's close to being over the top, but doesn't quite get there.

Jarvis turns most of his wit on this album to sex, from 'Pencil Skirt' where he whispers "I really love it when you tell me to stop. Oh, it's turning me on" to the gleeful malevolence on 'I-Spy' where he sings about sleeping with sleeping with a married woman either as a form of class war or as some kind of revenge, you can never tell which.

But he also sings about class on 'Common People' which articulated the perverse practice of slumming it with the most insightful line: "And the stupid things that you do. Because you think that poor is cool."

Day 6 - A song that reminds you of somewhere

My form classroom in Year 13, singing along with Sufyan (despite the fact neither of us could get anywhere near the high notes)

Just a complete classic.