The front-page story “‘Baby wards could close’” is the first of three articles this morning aimed at describing the possible fallout of a NHS budget in deficit.
The first thing that leapt from the page at me is the source of information. Having been exposed to the style of this newspaper for a number of years, inoculates me against their sensationalist front-page headlines. These headlines are designed for one purpose: to sell and in that respect, this is a successful piece of journalism.
As you get deeper into this particularly shallow story you begin to realise just how little evidence this publication requires whilst inflaming the public. The list of hospitals that are having their maternity wards threatened is second-hand. The Conservative Party handed the list to the newspaper after they received it from the East of England Health Authority. To not question this source is simply bad journalistic practice.
The quotes used are too easily sought on behalf of the central Conservative Party with not a single reply from central government sought in response. Instead the EADT uses quotes from spokesmen of the two local hospitals mentioned in the list and a local Unison executive. The article is also inaccurately used as a means to mention again the actions of Hazel Blears joining a picket line in front of a hospital in her constituency, threatened with closure by the local NHS trust, (not by central government!). In itself, this story is rehashed in a small article on Page 7.
This article is blatantly biased and represents the sensationally inaccurate reporting attached to articles that can be used as attacks on Labour within the pages of this regional tabloid. Its message is clear: ‘Tories good, Labour bad’.
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