The Judge RANTS!
Date: 12/11/04
Not Write
Standards of journalism aren't what they used to be. If they ever were,
of course.
Take itv.com's report of the funeral of John Peel, for example.
Here's a quote from the piece:
"It [the order of service] contained a quote from the
character Misty in the book Roots:
"The music of our hearts is roots music, music which recalls
history, because without the knowledge of your history, you cannot turn
in your destiny: the music about the present, because if you are not
conscious about the present, you're like a cabbage in this society."
No, no, NO!! In the words of Ford
Prefect, "You stupid Ghent!"
This is a quote from the Rasta band Misty In Roots.
It is part of the spoken introduction to a song called Mankind,
recorded at the Counter-Eurovision Festival in Belgium in 1979. The
track was a particular favourite of Peelie's, and he often said that
the sentiments contained in the quote came closest to describing the
philosophy behind what he did.
Not only had the poor hack who wrote the report never heard of the
band, (s)he had obviously never read Alex Haley, although
presumably someone must have told him/her about the book, or perhaps
even read it to them.
(Half Man Half
Biscuit, another of John's favourites, tried once to claim that
Haley was adopted, which would have made for an interesting conclusion
to the book).
Research? Wot's dat?
