From: ant.mcwatt@ntlworld.com
Date: Thu Jul 15 2004 - 23:31:55 BST
Platt noted July 15th 2004:
> > Ant McWatt comments:
> >
> > Firstly, the Sun is as much a newspaper as a surfboard is a reliable
> > means
> of trans-Atlantic transport. There's no way the Sun could be perceived as
> a credible or seriously unbiased medium and certainly wouldn't be
> acceptable in an academic context. <snip>
For some reason I didn't get McWatt's post where he penned the above, nor
have I received a copy of post I sent in response to Mel's comments about
Islam. Hopefully they will show up soon.
------------------------------------------------------------
Ant McWatt comments:
Dear Platt,
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. As such, I have re-posted my original post below for your interest especially as your new points are still addressed by this.
I had a wry smile on my face when I read your comment “Meanwhile, here's a confirming story about the sorry state of the NHS in Briton from another news source, Sky News” as both Sky “News” and the Sun “newspaper” are both controlled by Rupert Murdoch. Though Sky News may be a quality step up from the Sun I think the confirmation it provides is analogous to asking two football fans if football is a good sport!
Instead, as an MOQ Discuss contributor you might consider checking out – occasionally, anyway - the lower half of my links page at:
http://www.anthonymcwatt.co.uk/Links page November 2003.htm
which contains a number of independent media sources. These were put there specifically in a group by me to facilitate the rapid surfing between sites and, therefore, make it easier for someone to gain a more informed viewpoint on current affairs.
Murdoch tends to provide the establishment viewpoint on events so a reliance on his numerous and ubiquitous media sources will tend give one a pretty limited (and therefore lower quality) view on events.
Best wishes,
Anthony.
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Original post by Ant McWatt dated July 15th 2004:
Just had to intervene on one point made between Platt and Arlo in their recent excellent discussion concerning free markets.
Platt Holden stated July 14th 2004:
Headline in the UK Sun “newspaper” this morning:
Ant McWatt comments:
Firstly, the Sun is as much a newspaper as a surfboard is a reliable means of trans-Atlantic transport. There’s no way the Sun could be perceived as a credible or seriously unbiased medium and certainly wouldn’t be acceptable in an academic context. You’d definitely fail a paper or an exam if you relied on a reference from this low quality propaganda rag to support an argument (other than as a negative example).
For your information Platt, the only British media references I have received from Pirsig have been the Guardian and the BBC – which are, despite their limitations, definitely the higher quality sources for UK news.
Platt Holden quotes from the Sun on July 14th 2004:
"Filthy NHS wards kill 5,000 a year."
In the story, the reasons for this sorry record in Briton's socialized
medicine system are that doctors, nurses and cleaners "not washing their
hands properly" Also, "Many were overworked and found it hard to maintain
standards." Furthermore, "Generally unclean hospitals, too few isolation
units and patients frequently being shifted around all added to the spread
of the bugs."
Ant McWatt groans:
Yes (as the Sun would conveniently fail to mention) is that all these types of problems arose in the 1990s after the UK Conservative party introduced free market policies into the NHS.
The ward cleaners were one part of this privatisation scheme and it is when the cleaning contracts went to the lowest cost bidders rather than the highest quality bidders that serious problems (such as the MRSA bug) became evident. For instance, these private cleaning companies employ low paid immigrants who often can’t speak English. This means they fail to even understand many of the basic directions given by management when cleaning wards.
The overwork comment from the Murdoch adult comic is also interesting as evidently last year (for the first time) there became more bureaucrats (required to operate all the free market systems) within the NHS than hospital beds. There also remains a shortage of nurses and of doctors – another disgraceful legacy of Thatcherite free-market “economics” in the wrong context.
Platt Holden stated July 14th 2004:
Kerry and Hillary want a similar low quality system for the U.S.
Ant McWatt comments:
I seriously don’t think they do! I would assume they want a high quality system (as the NHS remains in most of its non-privatised elements). The MOQ indicates that there’s a place for free markets in some contexts – however, I seriously doubt that such markets have a place in a universal high quality health care service. They tend to ruin it.
Or education for that matter but that’s another story...
Yours pragmatically,
Anthony.
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