My Pet Hates
Newspapers - So many of them print such rubbish most of the time! -
anything I have ever been involved in which has been reported in the press has
always been journalistically embellished so much as to create something so far
from the truth as to make it ridiculous. Unfortunately, the poor unsuspecting reader
has no idea how inaccurate the stories are so they go around believing most
of the rubbish.
I do not buy newspapers at all, and haven't done so for more than
20 years. If I want to read rubbish, I feel I can always buy a comic, which
has just about as much useful information in them as most UK newspapers. (If
more people were to stop buying newspapers, instead of complaining that they
are always invading people's privacy, then maybe the press would grow up and
start reporting facts in a civilised manner rather as they used to do in the
distant past).
LETS JUST START HAVING REAL NEWS FOR A CHANGE!
I am also less than a fan of "Consumer Reports" like "Which"
and the BBC's "Watchdog" programme. The basic idea behind them is excellent,
but they do tend to go over the top somewhat with many subjects. I think it is reasonable
to assume that any law abiding citizen wants to see the unscrupulous sales methods and
unethical non-transparent products eliminated from our society, but I am not sure this
sometimes heavy handed, and often plainly biased, method is the only way of achieving that.
It is, in my opinion, a pity that the consumer lobby in the UK seems
to be gathering such momentum. Whilst consumer protection is obviously one of the most
important elements in any civilised society, I do believe that the individual should
be prepared to take some responsibility for their own actions, and not always expect
someone else to bail them out if they subsequently realise the decision they made was
not the right one!
One day these matters will, I am sure, find a happy medium. Until that point,
however, I can't help feeling that the consumer will find that their choice will become
dramatically reduced - "to protect the unwary, or the unthinking, from being able to
make the wrong decision."
If you have got any comments on anything on this series of pages,
or you have any common interests that we can talk about, please get in touch.
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Willis
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