One of the things I despise most about parts of the British press is the way they assume that their readership has the memory of a goldfish. This means that they are free to make outrageous claims on the flimsiest of evidence on one day and then take the story in a completely different direction a day later when the original story proves unfounded.
Here’s Five Chinese Crackers with an excellent example of this. Last week there were rumours that some of the terrorists involved with the Mumbai attacks were British. A lot of the British papers ran that story on Saturday’s front pages. And then when it turns out that there was no truth in this rumours the story is quietly dropped.
But people do remember those headlines. And because they never see anything to contradict what they said, those headlines become mistaken for facts. You mark my words – over the next few years it’ll become common knowledge that the Mumbai terrorists were Brits. And no-one will believe you if you point out the truth.