|
The Daily Mail isn't a massive fan of Google Street View. Rather than see it for what it is - a harmless way of viewing the society that we live in from the comfort of our homes - they see it as a tool for criminals and an invasion of privacy. It is worth remembering though that the Daily Mail has a dubious attitude towards many new technologies. Do not forget that the Daily Mail is the newspaper that warned you that Facebook causes cancer, using Twittter can make you 'immoral', and wi-fi networks in schools will give your children cancer1. The Daily Mail likes to create conflict, therefore its headlines are always aware that they must emphasise the controversy of a news story - even if the controversy exists only in their fevered and paranoid imagination. I would hope to assume that any reasonably sane human being would be able to rationally process the fact that anyone can walk down any public street or road in the UK whenever they wish, and therefore using Google Street View is only exercising the same right – but virtually. The Daily Mail, though, does not often take rational or reasonable standpoints on issues (the headlines would be too dull). This is why they report the news that Street View is not about to be scrapped in the UK as 'defiance' on the part of the 'Google Maps boss'.
The full headline: 'Street View “is here to stay”: Defiant Google Maps boss stands firm', clearly wants to create the impression that Google is standing in defiance of some great force of public opinion that wants Google Street View scrapped; when instead it only has to face criticism from a bunch of idiotic villagers (whose plan back-fired brilliantly) and tabloid newspapers who are intent on creating conflict. This article is also unintentionally amusing, whilst criticising Google for making mistakes (not blocking all faces, leaving some embarrassing images etc) the writer undermines her criticism with some mistakes of her own: 
Perhaps the technology phobia suffered by Daily Mail writers inhibits the use of a spell checker and such lazy rehashed journalism is not worthy of being proofread or edited. I'm sure it is only a matter of time before we see the 'Google street view raises risk of cancer' headlines rolled out.
1 - This story was also around in various forms in 2007 in the Daily Mail: The classroom 'cancer risk' of wi-fi internet, Children being used as 'guinea pigs' in mass Wi-Fi experiment, warn teachers and Wifi internet 'poses a health risk for children'. |
