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Mail: a truly despicable article ("nothing 'natural' about Stephen Gately's death")

Diamond said:
That's not really a democratising force.

That's just a redistribution of power.
Click to expand...

Sure, but it's a redistribution of power from writer to reader; 'media' to public; producer to consumer. Not a complete one by any means, perhaps not even a very big one, but enough to be significant. Surely a redistribution of (some) power in the direction of the majority is in itself a democratising influence?
 
http://timesonline.typepad.com/comm...r-man-died-of-homosexuality--for-moirs-p.html
Jan Moir on Stephen Gately: serious statistical flaws

Gately I am deeply dismayed by Jan Moir's article on Stephen Gately, suggesting that the poor man died of homosexuality.

For Moir's piece contained within it extraordinary statistical flaws.

How did it transpire that everybody on the Daily Mail failed to pick her up on it?

Here is her argument:

Another real sadness about Gately's death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships.

Gay activists are always calling for tolerance and understanding about same-sex relationships, arguing that they are just the same as heterosexual marriages. Not everyone, they say, is like George Michael.

Of course, in many cases this may be true. Yet the recent death of Kevin McGee, the former husband of Little Britain star Matt Lucas, and now the dubious events of Gately's last night raise troubling questions about what happened.

There seem to me to be three statistical mistakes here.

The first is that you can learn something useful from a sample size of two.

The second is that you select your sample by reading back copies of the Daily Mail and finding famous people who fall into the category you wish to study who have been in front page news stories in the last month.

There is, you see, a chance that this method will bias the sample.

And third, Ms Moir appears to have forgotten how useful it is to have a comparison group.

It did not strike her that by employing the same sample selection method (Daily Mail stories) she could have found two marriages to compare with the civil partnerships.

All in all I think the statistical errors are so great as to leave open the possibility that Ms Moir's piece of analysis was not designed to get at the truth.

Posted by Daniel Finkelstein on October 16, 2009 at 04:44 PM
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:D
 
Its a shame Littlejohn's vile article about those murdered Suffolk prostitutes did'nt attract the same coverage and outrage,according to him their deaths apparently were 'no great loss':mad:
 
Roadkill said:
Sure, but it's a redistribution of power from writer to reader; 'media' to public; producer to consumer. Not a complete one by any means, perhaps not even a very big one, but enough to be significant. Surely a redistribution of (some) power in the direction of the majority is in itself a democratising influence?
Click to expand...

I don't necessarily think so because I suspect that these internet campaigns represent nothing more than special interest groups, albeit ones that may be morally in the right, as opposed to a majority consensus (which is what democracy drives at).

Also, Finkelstein is great. It's a pity he's a Tory.
 
Email from Nestle

FINGERS,

Thank you for your email to the Nestlé Press Office, below is our statement. This has also been put up on the home page of our website:
Nestlé has no influence on the editorial content of the publications in which it advertises. The views expressed in the article are from the author and are not shared by Nestlé.
The Company has consistently emphasised the importance of mutual respect and tolerance, regardless of culture, religion or nationality. This a core Company value as expressed in the Nestlé Corporate Business Principles.

http://www.nestle.co.uk/Home
 
Fingers said:
Email from Nestle

FINGERS,

Thank you for your email to the Nestlé Press Office, below is our statement. This has also been put up on the home page of our website:
Nestlé has no influence on the editorial content of the publications in which it advertises. The views expressed in the article are from the author and are not shared by Nestlé.
The Company has consistently emphasised the importance of mutual respect and tolerance, regardless of culture, religion or nationality. This a core Company value as expressed in the Nestlé Corporate Business Principles.

http://www.nestle.co.uk/Home
Click to expand...

Nestle said this with a straight face:facepalm:
 
SKY news just had it on again, it's part of the Gately package,

said family were aware of it, close friend of Stephen and family said they were 'very disappointed' that 'on the day before his funeral as Ireland grieved a favourite son' someone had sat down and deliberately written something that had caused 'so much offence', SKY jaourno read out Moir's statement and then reiterated that it 'had caused great anger here in Dublin'.

Sky also bigged up that PCC had 800 complaints already, of a 3 minute piece it was the last 45 seconds which is pretty strong, for a news column piece.
 
Diamond said:
I don't necessarily think so because I suspect that these internet campaigns represent nothing more than special interest groups, albeit ones that may be morally in the right, as opposed to a majority consensus (which is what democracy drives at).
Click to expand...

That is true, but then interest groups always tend to shout louder than most, whether on the internet or in real life. In any case, to me the phrase 'special interest groups' implies a degree of organisation, whereas what's happened today is spontaneous. Nor is it only gay people who've taken umbrage at Jan Moir's comments by any means. In fact, mcuh as it might be true in some cases, I don't think you can pin today's 'campaign' on any particular interest group: it's just people exercising their right of reply, which the internet makes it easier to do.
 
Fingers said:
Email from Nestle

FINGERS,

Thank you for your email to the Nestlé Press Office, below is our statement. This has also been put up on the home page of our website:
Nestlé has no influence on the editorial content of the publications in which it advertises. The views expressed in the article are from the author and are not shared by Nestlé.
The Company has consistently emphasised the importance of mutual respect and tolerance, regardless of culture, religion or nationality. This a core Company value as expressed in the Nestlé Corporate Business Principles.

http://www.nestle.co.uk/Home
Click to expand...

Nestle - promoting the right of women everywhere, regardless of access to clean water, to bottle rather than breasfeed :rolleyes:
 
Diamond said:
I don't necessarily think so because I suspect that these internet campaigns represent nothing more than special interest groups, albeit ones that may be morally in the right, as opposed to a majority consensus (which is what democracy drives at).

Also, Finkelstein is great. It's a pity he's a Tory.
Click to expand...

What special interest groups?
I'm not a special interest group and nor is 5t3IIa, but that didn't stop us setting up a FB page and publicising it. Purely because like other people posting here we were disgusted by the article, and the first time I'd ever been in contact with 5t3IIa on a one on one basis was today, via PM, because of this thread.
 
Has anyone noticed that all the adverts have gone from that page.

That is actually much more important than just moving them to the bottom of the page.

Well done BK :)

john x
 
john x said:
Has anyone noticed that all the adverts have gone from that page.

That is actually much more important than just moving them to the bottom of the page.

Well done BK :)

john x
Click to expand...

Yes, at about 3pm this afternoon.... along with everyone else ;)
 
Result. :)

In the same week that twitterers beat down the racist murderers of Trafigura and their Carter Ruck accomplices aswell.
 
Someone being mischevious on the original pages comments:

So the two guys took drugs, got drunk, picked up another guy and one of them took him into another room for some person - need we guess what? - while his husband chocked to death on his own vomitn (which is what pulmonary oedema is)? I am sorry but, yes, this is a story and Jan is right to write it up.
- Stella xxxxxx, Hackney, 16/10/2009 15:17


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/a...e-lonely-troubling-death--.html#ixzz0U7Wo2aQW
Click to expand...

I took Stella's surname out...
 
I'm amazed that The Mail had the temerity to publish Moir's mealy mouthed comeback attack apology

My gut feel is that's it worth shifting the line of attack to beyond Moir. Who were the editorial goons who passed this article the first time around and then allowed this second statement to entirely miss the point and cause more offence.
 
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