Irresponsible Media

~ beetleypete

Recently, one of the large supermarket chains had difficulties getting supplies of petrol and diesel delivered to a couple of its locations. It was announced to customers that this was caused by a shortage of lorry drivers, because many European drivers had left the country after Brexit.

The next morning, the tabloid newspapers were splashing stories all over their front pages that petrol stations were going to run out of fuel very soon.

Of course, the TV and radio news latched onto this ‘breaking story’, even though it didn’t actually exist. With the result that panic-buying of fuel started, and continued into this morning. Every fifteen minutes on the rolling TV news channels, a sombre reporter showed images of huge queues outside some petrol stations, and that has resulted in a scramble to buy fuel, bordering on mass hysteria.

So now some petrol stations have actually run out, after selling as much fuel in 24 hours as they might have done in a month. So the real story that didn’t previously amount to much was blown out of all proportion, becoming a reality in the process.

Yes, stupid sheep-brained panic buyers have some responsibility for this chaos.

But the irresponsible media are the real culprits, and should be ashamed.

77 thoughts on “Irresponsible Media”

    1. India has a sad history of religious intolerance. There are often reports here that refer to people as ‘Muslims’ when their religion is irrelevant. Racism never goes away anywhere, unfortunately.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  8. Absolutely right. And we need petrol to go on holiday soon. Anyway, rather than sit for an hour or more in a queue, I’ve decided supplies will probably be back to normal before we need it.

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    1. I feel much the same as you, David. But my wife was out at 5:30 this morning to fill up her car. She needs it to get to work next week, as there is no bus from here to where she works at the hours of her shifts. She had less than 1/4 of a tank, so she wasn’t topping up unnecessarily.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  9. It’s bad enough for a regional or a (fully) commercial station to do this, but the BBC?! Wow.

    There used to be a time when the rest of us Europeans envied Britain for the BBC — if you’d done a poll then, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the BBC come out as Europe’s best-known and most widely-respected news organization, with well-researched, reliable and in-depth reporting on whatever topic they covered. The rule of thumb was, if the BBC says it, (1) it’s true and (2) this is * exactly * what happened.

    It’s so sad to watch what the BBC has become lately, and how its reputation has gone downhill as a result.

    I hope your wife will still be able to take your grandkids on the proposed trip — it would be a shame for it to be ruined! Not to mention the two of you getting wherever else you need to go …

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    1. Thanks, Themis. The BBC is becoming no better than the tabloid press, and it is a tragedy in my opinion. It was all that was left, and now they it is as good as ‘gone’.
      My wife went out at 5:30 am today to fill the car up before the queues started. So she can take the kids on that long-awaited trip tomorrow, and more importantly get to work to her job at the doctor’s next week.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  10. It’s a vicious circle around the world, Pete the news channels and papers know what joe public’s response will be so they plant the seed..joe public acts in its normal irresponsible way and that means they can then publish the chaos and the world goes on as no one is held accountable…

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  12. The news is just full of negativity these days. I am lucky that I filled up my car last week as I was running on fumes! Like you a car is essential for us. Hopefully if I stick to just going shopping locally I should be OK for a month or two.

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    1. Julie queued for 90 minutes last night on her way home from work. She has no alternative but to use her car for her job at the doctor’s surgery. She also took my car out at 5:45 this morning and filled it up in case this all drags on for weeks. I was still asleep! 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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  15. Pete, we have the same problems here in Texas and the states in general. Sensationalism of the news. Every station wants to one up the others, and every reporter is fishing for that award, or even a Pulitzer. Irresponsible reporting is rampant. Gas here in Texas has jumped more than 1.50 a gallon since Biden wrecked the petroleum industry. In CA., it’s at 5.00 in some places. I have no trust in our news media, liberal or conservatives channels. Good luck with all going on in UK.

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  17. Well said Pete, I’ve seen for a long time the news media don’t report with balanced views but create news to suit it’s own agenda. I can hardly watch our news programs without having to walk away usually within 5 minutes now.
    Fueling panic (excuse the pun on your story) keeps many reporters in a job, just as our main tv media send 4-5 reporters to one event usually a nice overseas jaunt where they all just mirror what the previous reporter has said at tax payer expense.

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    1. This week has been a news disaster, Bobby. Julie is still out queuing for petrol for her car, and she finished work at 6pm. She has to drive to work in the doctor’s surgery, so it’s essential travel.
      Cheers, Pete,.

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  19. You and I have the same opinion of the media. We once had journalists and investigative reporters, now we have teleprompter readers and media ratings chasers. I have no respect for any of them any more.

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  23. I have my gripes with the media, Pete, God knows I do, but I rarely criticize them these days because that has become the go to trope within the right wing–at least in the US . To the right wing, everything that mainstream media reports is “fake news”. Certainly the 24 hr news cycle has created a lot of problems and, in my opinion, mainstream media has always leaned left which has bred generations of resentment from conservatives, so yes, those are some of my gripes with the media, but I shudder to think of our world with Rupert Murdoch and his denizens in control of it.

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    1. Pam, the BBC used to be criticised for being ‘Left-Leaning’. Then Boris appointed one of his pals as the new director-general, and it has started to play the government’s game. Sad for me to see that.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  25. And then they complain about social media, but they are supposed to follow some ethical rules and don’t seem to be doing a particularly good job of it. There doesn’t seem to be any difference these days, and it’s a sad state of affairs, and, of course, pretty dangerous as well. We don’t need any unwarranted panic as things are now. Thanks, Pete. I totally agree.

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  26. The media need to be held accountable but it seems no-one has the nerve to stand up to them. They cause chaos everywhere. Maybe this is what politicians want? To see everyone running around in a panic so they get distracted from other inconvenient matters? It’s cynical.

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  27. Breathless, “the sky is falling” news coverage across all media is the modern version of “clickbait” – hyping stories and blowing everything out of proportion for ratings…a terrible “new normal” sadly…you’ve seen it here in the US even worse!

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    1. It makes me furious, John. Companies like the BBC actually creating stories with their doom and gloom reporting. Living in the countryside with little or no public transport, we are so reliant on a car to do everything. Now our local town is backed up with cars queuing at the three petrol, stations there.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  28. Crazy. We had a panic buy on fuel here a couple months ago after one of the fuel supply companies got hacked and held for ransom. The media warned us NOT to panic buy since there was plenty of fuel already in supply to go around and it would only be a week or so before the company would be back up and running. Despite the warning, people still went out and panic bought to stock up, causing stations to run low or out of fuel, made worse due to a trucker shortage.

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    1. Those hysterical people make me so annoyed, Jeanne. There are so many people who really need fuel to get to work; important people like nurses, doctors, firefighters, police, and shop and store staff. It’s as if the modern world has developed a new gene that makes many people entitled and selfish.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. My wife is due to take her grandchildren to a farm park on Sunday, so now she is in a state as she’s worried about not being able to get enough petrol to make the journey. She spent £55 on the tickets, and has to do a 120-mile round trip to pick them up, take them there, and get home again.
      They should have brought in a £30 maximum spend on fuel, like they used to do in past fuel shortages.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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