This perhaps does not perhaps belong right here, but there has been much breast-beating of late about how terrible journos are and how "picked on" the poor airline industry is, especially in the context of accidents.
Some of you may have seen a supposed photo of a "creature" on Mars that has been doing the rounds recently. Chris Lintott of the BBC's Sky at Night program has posted a
commentary on the less than stringent
BBC article on this photograph. It should be noted that this is actually a four year old story as the photograph comes from the first pictures Spirit took from the landing site.
Any frustration anyone here feels at media simplification and plain nonsense is easily equalled by his clear dismay. Here's the start of his commentary; follow the link for the rest...
BBC : Mystery image of ‘life on Mars’
Chris : There is no mystery. It’s a rock.
BBC : An image of a mysterious shape on the surface of Mars, taken by Nasa spacecraft Spirit, has reignited the debate about life on the Red Planet. A magnified version of the picture, posted on the internet, appears to some to show what resembles a human form among a crop of rocks.
Chris : There is no mystery. It’s a rock. By ‘reignited the debate’ they mean ’some people on the internet get easily overexcited’.
BBC :While some bloggers have dismissed the image as a trick of light, others say it is evidence of an alien presence.
Chris : Is this supposed to be balanced reporting? It’s a rock.
and so on...
(Mods, if you decide to move this please tell me where you put it; I plan on referring people to it when they next complain about the Daily Mail etc...)