tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14422435.post3526293177485693223..comments2024-10-25T13:58:36.797+01:00septicislehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03369157723084834549noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14422435.post-13334041645137507042010-03-19T08:57:21.115+00:002010-03-19T08:57:21.115+00:00The Sun failed any kind of test to do with the responsible reporting of drugs use and policy all the way back in 1988 as this illustrates:<br /><br />&quot;The national press&#39; initial coverage of the Acid House scene was a positive one, with The Sun promoting the famous craze of &#39;Acid Smiley Face T-Shirts&#39;, now accredited with 1988/89 E-culture, as the latest fashion to impress your friends with. They described Acid House itself as &#39;cool and groovy&#39;, but this would soon change. Increased pressure from the subcultural press about the &#39;drug crazed world&#39; of Acid House, and the Dance scene&#39;s desire for a moral panic soon meant that Acid House hit the headlines in the biggest possible way. Indeed, what followed may have been the single biggest contributing element in Acid/Rave&#39;s explosion as young people&#39;s most popular form of entertainment at the turn of the decade.<br /><br />Moral panic broke out in October 1988. Only two weeks after running the story about Acid House above, the Sun linked the scene with rumours of new horror drug ecstasy, bearing the headline &#39;Evil of Ecstasy&#39; on October 19th. The other tabloids including The Post and Today all ran similar stories, many on their front pages along with photographs of writhing masses of sweaty teenagers. One Sun headline entitled &#39;Spaced out!&#39; is accompanied by such a photo, along with a caption saying, &#39;Night of ecstasy... thrill seeking youngsters in a dance frenzy at the secret party attended by more than 11,000.&#39; The ravers in the photo look hot, crazed and quite demented. Also, the use of an exclamation mark in a headline is usually reserved for only the most shocking of subjects. The moral panic had begun.&quot;<br /><br />http://www.fantazia.org.uk/Scene/press/magazines.htm<br /><br />How many people read that and thought &quot;Acid House, that sounds like fun. Get me into that forthwith&quot;, do you think?<br /><br />You almost can&#39;t blame the Sun, for reverting to type on an issue that hits all their buttons (children! drugs! internet!) - I&#39;m almost more surprised to find that over twenty years later, we&#39;re still expecting them to act differently.<br /><br />JuliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com