What did we learn today? Well it seems that it's not acceptable to poke fun at people with speech impediments. This may not really be news but it certainly came to light with the appointment of Roy Hodgson as the new England football manager this week.
The Sun newspaper ran the headline 'Bwing on the Euwos', rather inelegantly naming him 'Woy', which provoked over 100 complains from the public. So is this a question of media repartee or is it, in fact, unhelpful stigmatisation that will only encourage disrespect and abuse?
Obviously everybody likes a joke from time to time, and Roy isn't the first and won't be the last to be ridiculed by the press because of his rhotacism (think of Jonathan 'Woss' for example). However, I would say that this sort of example from the media is not particularly prudent. A newspaper of this quality, and this might be a sweeping generalisation on my part, would typically be read by people of lower IQ who might be more likely to repeat and spread such mockery to others who are not accustomed to dealing with media pressure and scrutiny.
Nevertheless, The Sun is more interested in selling vast quantities of their newspaper, and what better way to do so than by taking a cheap swipe at someone who a lot of us probably envy!
No comments:
Post a Comment