Daily Mail; “Facebook Generation Are Bored By Reality”

Yes, another week another load of horse shit from the Daily Mail. This week, online social networking and IM communication is being blamed for the suicide of a group of young people in Bridgend. I guess My Chemical Romance were busy….

The headline of this article and the subsequent details are saying that social networking makes real life seem dull and boring, which could lead to extreme behaviour; I.e suicide;

“The popularity of Facebook and other social networking websites could be creating a generation of children who find it difficult to form lasting friendships and find real life boring, doctors have warned.

The annual conference of the Royal College of Psychiatrists heard those born after 1990 have grown up in a world dominated by online social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.”

Well, no arguments against that, although I would point out that not everyone uses such sites.

“Dr Tyagi, of the West London Mental Health NHS Trust, said: ‘This is the age group involved with the Bridgend suicides and what many of these young people had in common was their use of the internet to communicate.

….Possible examples include the spate of suicides in Bridgend.  Twenty two young men and women from the South Wales town have taken their lives in recent months, amid suggestions of an Internet suicide pact although there is no clear evidence of this.”

See, here is the problem. The Daily Mail as usual does 2+2 and ends up with 92,678,462. Yes, twenty two people took their lives and also used Myspace, Facebook etc, except roughly 120 million other people use the same sites and live perfectly normal and healthy lives. Using dramatic headlines is what sells papers, and the shocking language is obviously used to get people onside. What the article conveniently neglects to mention is the vast benefits of utilising the Internet to stay in touch with people. Friends and family who may have been scattered all over the country, even the world, can chat in real-time for free over the Internet. If the Daily Mail really knew what they were talking about they would say what an incredible tool the Internet is for people to stay in touch and socialise more, not less.

Looking for (and usually inventing) connections in tragic events that simply don’t exist, is what the Daily Mail does every single week. Looking to blame something whether its technology or a band or whatever, when there is no blame, just sturs up unnecessary anger in people. However sad and tragic these events are, assigning blame just for the sake of it, does no good at all. The facts given are irrelevant to the article, the quotes from psychologists are biased, and the way that using social network sites are blamed does not make any sense. The sooner people stop buying this rag the better.

My Chemical Romance Vs Daily Mail - Protest Follow Up

Following the hundreds of MCR fans that demonstrated outside of the Daily Mail offices in London, the Mail issued the following statement, (un-edited) highlighted in bold;

“The Daily Mail’s coverage of the ‘Emo’ movement has been balanced, restrained and above all, in the public interest. Genuine concerns were raised at the inquest earlier this month on 13 year old emo follower Hannah Bond who had been self-harming and then tragically killed herself.”

“In common with other newspapers we ran an accurate news story recording the Coroner’s remarks and the parents’ comments. We also published two other articles, one of which explained the background to the Hannah tragedy in calm and un-sensational language.

Wait a minute, you said “un-sensational language”? “balanced”, “accurate”, “restrained”? Seriously, do these reporters even read the shit that they themselves write? Let me remind you of the “un-sensational, balanced and accurate” language that was used in the articles. And I quote;

“No child is safe from the sinister emo cult”

“My Chemical Romance’s lyrics promote violence and self-harm”

“Emos like to wear studded belts, long black fringes over one eye, and cut their wrists as part of the emo initiation rite”

None of this is even remotely true, and the fact that the Mail thinks it is being fair and balanced is a joke. The exact opposite is true, and MCR have always spoken out against suicide and even at live shows they tell their fans to not give up and to keep on going. Link here. Many themes and lyrics by MCR are pro-life and encouraging, inspiring people to be strong and carry on with life. This of course, was not mentioned anywhere in any of the Mail’s articles.

Goading the parents into blaming Emo’s and MCR is just disgraceful as they are obviously still distraught, and bringing up new sources to blame, such as a music genre (not a cult by the way) isn’t going to help anyone.

“The other was a first person opinion piece by a well-known writer, written from the perspective of a mother concerned for her children. We have also run two prominent page lead letters from an emo music fan and from a fan of My Chemical Romance defending their point of view.

What they haven’t mentioned is that in addition to two letters from fans, they also printed dozens of letters from people (probably someone who has never even listened to MCR and only read the sensationalised story) agreeing how ‘dangerous’ being an emo is.

“Our music critic admires the music of the band and publicised the band’s UK tour last year. Since this protest was announced a great deal of misinformation has appeared on the internet, much of which confuses what the Daily Mail has actually published with the comments of website readers and ‘blogs’ over which we have no control and which have stirred up emotions.

People copying articles and phrases from the official Daily Mail website and articles is not misinformation. Trying to cover your ass from being sued has never been so hilarious, trying to blame ‘bloggers’ for exaggeration when their own articles are written to provoke people.

“We note it has been pointed out by others that all this provides wonderful publicity for Warners and their impending release of My Chemical Romance’s latest album.

It was the Mail that published the articles, not Warner or MCR, so how on earth can you insinuate that it is some sort of publicity stunt?

“The Daily Mail is a broad church and is always ready to listen to the views of readers. We do, however, suggest those who want to protest or comment read everything we have published and act on fact not rumour.”

Broad church? Emo cults? Why is the Mail so bound by religious language? Anyway, how insulting for the Mail to tell people to read facts before commenting, when the writers themselves make things up about MCR fans like self harm, initiation rite’s, and calling the Emo music genre a cult, and finally; exploiting the pain and suffering of the Bond family for their own agenda is completely and irrefutably despicable. They saw a potential shock story and started digging and stirring up emotions from the family, until they said what they wanted to hear, and could quote them for specific topics.

Photo’s from the day can be found on the Kerrang! website here.

Anger at Daily Mail’s Latest Attack on Emo’s and My Chemical Romance

That’s it! No more! I have had enough of the Daily Mail spreading nothing but assumptions, hypocrisy, exaggerations, and above all - lies. They’ve done it in the past in 2006 with this equally disgraceful article on Emo and Goth culture. This article labels Green Day as Emo (yes, again) and uses a picture of Helen Flanagan to show what a Goth should look like. But apparently these dimwit reporters haven’t learned a thing, despite a massive outrage at the time. Well, what are they doing (again) exactly? Read on.

Last year, Hannah Bond committed suicide, and the press - predominantly the Daily Mail, has now pointed the blame finger squarely at My Chemical Romance. According to the Daily Mail it is somehow their fault that the music they created had such an effect on the 13 year old, it influenced her death. What utter bollocks.

It’s terribly tragic that Hannah decided to do this to herself, but why the need to assign blame (8 months later) on ONE band is unfathomable. Below is a breakdown of the Mail’s report, and for those who may not be aware of My Chemical Romance or other such ‘Emo’ bands, I’ve tried to explain the below quotes rationally, and why this article has infuriated so many people up and down the country. I myself am not an Emo, but I do appreciate some of the music, including MCR, as with many other genres, so I do know my stuff.

“One of the foremost of these “suicide cult” bands is My Chemical Romance, from New Jersey.”
Suicide cult bands? Can the Mail please offer any evidence or proof that MCR are in any way encouraging or condoning suicide? Their music is open to interpretation of course, but to me it is generally quite positive and does not in any way say that death is a good thing, or that it should be glamorised. But because lyrics are about dying the Mail as usual wrongly assumes that it must be depressing, when in fact the songs are saying messages like don’t give up, carry on, and stand up and be strong in hard times.

“Music plays a critical role…American bands such as My Chemical Romance, Good Charlotte and Blink 182 are particular favourites.”
True, music is a big part of being Emo along with the dressing and styling. Naming the above bands as Emo however is completely unfair and ridiculous. It’s obvious to anyone that has heard these bands that they are not even remotely Emo. MCR may dress in some way Emo, but lyrics are the opposite - more on that later. Good Charlotte are Pop/Punk at best, not taking themselves seriously and generally being positive about their previously downtrodden lives. One video has them at an Old People’s Home messing around. Blink 182 were even more upbeat, silly and less serious than Good Charlotte. See below.

This is Blink-182. Do they look miserable or suicidal? No, so if you are going to pinpoint or highlight particular bands as Emo, at least do some research and not look at the first names that are listed on Wikipedia.

“My Chemical Romance made it to No.1 in the UK chart with Welcome To The Black Parade in October 2006 - the ‘black parade’ is a place where all Emo’s believe they will go when they die”
I actually had myself laughing in stitches over this one. Have you ever heard such a ridiculous statement in your life? They talk about being Emo like it is a religion or something. The Black Parade is a song about a person accepting death, remembering the happiest time of his life (a parade when he was young) which is comforting to him. The song is quite upbeat and is fundamentally about not letting death get you down, and simply because the lyrics are about dying, the article immediately assumes it must be depressing and somehow encouraging suicide.

Words are thrown around like cult, and underground society, as if Emo is some sort of dark religion when it’s just a genre of music. It’s fans have their own styles and tastes, just as varied as any other branch of music.

Finally, an excellent quote from someone who wrote into the Daily Mail;

“Yes, it’s tragic that this young girl has lost her life, but attaching blame to a phenomenon that reflects the depression - not causes it, is senseless.”

Kerrang! magazine this week had a full page spread of letters sent in by people who are angry at the unjustified attacks on MCR and Emo’s by the media. Funnily enough, they make much more sense than the Mail does. Some are highlighted below;

“…pointed out that people had been killing themselves long before My Chemical Romance were even born”

“MCR and other such ‘emo’ bands do not condone self harm, their music is used to bring people together and help them through tough times, to make them feel happy when they are down and show them they are not alone. Suicide is not the answer and the bands have said this themselves. Music is an escape, not the reason to hang yourself.”

“it is appalling that they have decided to target ONE band over this issue. To say that MCR have in any way encouraged it is absolutely ridiculous. Have they ever actually listened to the lyrics?”

Exactly. In another song of the album, lyrics such as “I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone” are very powerful and surely promote life and for the Mail to highlight one song, of one album, by one band, is not only unprofessional but misinformed and inaccurate as well. The country-wide anger that the articles on the Daily Mail website have generated must show just how wrong and stupid these narrow minded reporters are. They always need a scapegoat and this time it is Emo. How long is it before they blame rap or R&B music for gun crime, teenage pregnancy and violence. What, they already did…?

If you feel the same, or can explain the Mail’s reasoning, please leave a comment so I can understand. The way I see it, the Mail has done this all before and I am getting very fucking sick of it. Good god, Daily Mail reporters please do some research in the future, you feckless, overpaid, halfwits.