The wrecking of the MSC Napoli is an interesting study in how public reaction to a story - and bothering to find out the real facts - subsequently colours the news.
As you can imagine, this (the most newsworthy thing to happen in East Devon for decades) has been a rich source of stories for the local TV and radio stations. When the first wreckage was beached, there were fun-filled stories on BBC Spotlight of local 'wreckers' carrying on the hallowed tradition of taking away goods for use or resale. But now (3 or 4 days on), there are lots of indignant reports of scavengers (some from as far away as Basingstoke - Lord preserve us!) stealing things belonging to other people and generally messing up the environment.
This calls to mind the story of Molly Campbell aka Misbah Rana that started sometime late last year, with stories of a British schoolgirl from a Scottish island being kidnapped by her father and taken to Pakistan against the wishes of her distraught mother. The real story turned out to be something rather different: someone living somewhere she disliked in a way she didn't approve of, choosing to live with her Dad and his family as a positive thing.
It all turned out more or less OK in the end - but I am sure many of us were guilty of reacting inappropriately when the story first broke. Of course international custody battles are always very unpleasant, and the victim is the child one way or another, but it all goes to show - sometimes, it's better to have all the facts before you rush to judgement!
25/01/07 @ 18:28