Shoddy journalism spoils an otherwise okayish read (The Sun)

Member Name: stuff10

Product:	The Sun
Date:	22/05/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Page 3, Jeremy Clarkson's column, the sport section

Disadvantages: Stories often blown out of all proportion

We only really buy The Sun newspaper ourselves when we're on holiday to give us a vague idea about what might be happening back home. I say "vague" and "might" because The Sun is generally so full of crap that it's hard to tell if some of the stories are true or not.

Aimed at the lowest common species in British society (the white van man), The Sun's articles are generally easy to read and not very taxing on the brain. Some of the articles are great - such as the recent "discovery" of the Lost City of Atlantis just off the Canary Islands on Google Maps... I think we had 3 full pages of reports and artists impressions that day before Google said it was just a hitch with the satellite imagery.

They also blow stories out of all proportion... There was a headline recently saying that thousands of Brits would be in danger cos the volcano on Tenerife (Mount Teide) could erupt at any time, the article even included quotes from one of Spain's top scientists. What The Sun failed to point out was that this scientist lives in Tenerife and wants to build his own geological lab on the island, so saying Teide could erupt was his way of trying to get what he wanted.

I also get annoyed at how The Sun thinks that computer games such as Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt are responsible for everything that goes wrong in our society... You'll all remember how Jack The Ripper was playing Manhunt 100-odd years ago.

But, despite its flaws we still buy The Sun now and again. Why? Well, there are some good parts about the paper, most notably Jeremy Clarkson's column on a Saturday, the sports coverage and page 3! ;)

It's half-interesting to flick through for 5 minutes, but I wouldn't buy it every day - not even for 20p!

Summary: Not worth 20p a day!