ANGRY MOB

Earlier this week I touched briefly upon the Daily Mail story that Barack Obama, during his recent visit to Mexico, shook hands with Felipe Solis, an archaeologist who gave Barack Obama a tour of the National Anthropology Museum. The Daily Mail stated in the headline of this story that Felipe Solis died '24 hours later', whilst the first line states that he died 'from symptoms similar to those of swine flu'.

Now, I also pointed out that elsewhere in the article the Daily Mail clearly stated that he died 'a week later... of pneumonia' and that: 'Mexican health boss Jose Cordova... said Mr Solis was already ill and his death was unrelated to swine flu'. Funnily enough the Daily Mail changed the headline the following day, but failed to remove the 24-later-swine-flu claim from the article, or from captions underneath photographs of Felipe Solis and Barack Obama.

Now, to have the 24 hour claim rubbished by the same article it originates in seems to be pretty shoddy journalism, but then this is the Daily Mail online and perhaps they don't vet the content as much as they would the print edition. However, I also happen to have the dubious pleasure of flicking through the Daily Mail at work, and what should I find but the same 24 hour claim made in Friday's print edition:

Not only is the claim (lie) that Felipe Solis died 'the following day' repeated but the author also claims that 'it was not known whether the man had the virus'. This is a quite breathtaking lie, or unbelievably poor bit of journalism, when the actual truth about Felipe Solis was printed 4 days earlier on the website of the same newspaper.

To settle this lie once and for all I tried to find the origin of the '24 hour later' claim. The Daily Express ran the story on Tuesday, but they only mention that Felipe Solis 'died less than two weeks later from symptoms similar to swine flu'. Obviously the Daily Express follows the Mail's lead and announced the story as 'Obama in swine flu scare' even though they do not provide any evidence that Felipe Solis died or displayed any symptoms of swine flu - but this is no surprise considering the Express' reputation for lies.

As far as I can see the 24-hour claim is solely a fabrication of the tabloid newspapers, and seems to originate in the Daily Mail.

Just for the record, the White House issued a press release on Monday 27th April stating the following:

 So it is hardly a secret that Felipe Solis died over a week later. It is also hardly a secret that his death was unrelated to swine flu. Yet the Daily Mail has lied - and continues to lie - repeatedly in claiming that Felipe Solis died the following day and that he either displayed 'swine flu symptoms' or it is 'not known' whether he had the virus. 

The Daily Mail have had more than enough time to acquaint themselves with the relevant facts, yet still they insist on lying to dramatise Barack Obama's visit to Mexico. This is just one example of how the Daily Mail distorts reality on a daily basis, and one more reason for people to take anything printed in the Daily Mail with a vast handful of salt.

As jdc325 points out in a recent post Bloggers seem to get quite a bit of stick off of 'proper' journalists for not fact checking and hiding behind false names. Yet, if anyone wants to know my name they need only click on the Twitter link, or visit the main domain name of this website. Likewise, if I have not checked my facts then people are free to point this out in my comments section.

You’ll no doubt think this a bit rich coming from a journalist who spouts opinions for money. Well, yes, but at least we put our names to what we write. Our unlovely photographs sit atop the page, we have to qualify statements, check facts, our lawyers monitor what we write and beat us with a wet slipper if we mess up.

The evidence, Carol, is that you should perhaps start pointing your finger slightly closer to home.