express/dunblane petition

It doesn't take long for me to tell anyone about my own derogatory opinion of The Daily Express. [But basically, at least The Sunday Sport is only insulting in a one-dimensional way.] However, as this considered bit of writing by Graham Linehan (of Ted, Black Books, I.T. Crowd and so forth) lays out, they have, as he said, 'won the race to the bottom'. Linehan is supporting and expanding on a campaign to protect survivors of the horrific Dunblane atrocity from being apparent press fodder for the rest of their lives - something an Express journalist appears to disagree with as she manipulated and stalked former pupils to write this particular piece of sub-literary dreck. I heavily recommend reading his piece and then seriously considering the wider implications of his argument. A murderous lunatic shot at these young people whenever they were too young to even understand what was going on: this does not make them open to scrutiny for the rest of their lives.

If you are not convinced, consider this updated comment which Linehan has recognised here:

This campaign has to succeed. If not, the road ahead for these kids just got a lot darker. The Sunday Express has served notice that the downmarket stalker press considers them fair game for the rest of their lives. Whatever successes they enjoy will be trumped up as being down to their hardy survivor spirit, and whatever failures they endure will be chalked up to the psychological damage of the shooting. Their sadnesses will be exploited as “heartbreak for tragic Dunblane victim”. You can just see the headlines now, and for decades to come. If the media gets the message right here right now that these kids are not fair game for lifelong exploitation because they happened to be in one room for one hour aged five, they can continue to live normal lives. Who knows, some of the papers might even have to go dig up real stories, not manufacture the problem.”

-----