Murdoch’s Sky News talking head, Peter Gleeson was outraged by the case of a three-year-boy stranded in New South Wales after he went to visit his grandparents in July. Gleeson said the boy has been denied a border exemption despite the Queensland government letting in the families of NRL players on Monday. The story was, of course, also repeated in Murdoch’s Courier Mail and Daily Bellylaugh1.
The only problem with this story was that it wasn’t true. It turns out the boy’s family had not approached Queensland authorities for an exemption to enter the state, according to Queensland’s Chief Health Officer, Jeannette Young. She said: “we’ve now been able to sort that all out … Of course he’s been given an exemption. We wouldn’t leave a child in another state, but we have to be asked to be able to give an exemption.” She also said the boy would need to be accompanied by an adult and fly to where his parents live, near Hervey Bay in the state’s south-east2.
Murdoch will do anything to hammer a Labor government, and people wonder why so many are disgusted with the Murdoch media.
Sources
Did they publish a retraction and apologise for not doing basic journalistic research? Rhetorical question.
Jon,
Not that I have seen. However, the Courier Mail was still hammering the premier about it, even though it was bullshit. Murdoch’s menials really are a despicable bunch.
The menials certainly appear to be cut from the same blindfold but even NewsCorpse flunkies ought to know that confirming basic details of a story before publishing is what even vaguely competent adult journalists do. The Brisbane tabloid is not called the Courier Fail for nothing. It and the Bellylaugh are good for two things – campfires and emergency dunny paper. Fortunately their electronic versions are behind paywalls, which should eventually see their well-earned demise. Decent of old mate Rup to do that for us.
Jon,
Murdoch ‘ruperters’ don’t care about facts. All they want is an angle to hammer everyone not of the LNP. They realise that so many people only read the headlines and perhaps the first paragraph before their mind wanders to the next headline. That is where the lies are. That is how they do it.