Enemies of Reason Poundshop potshots at the media moral maze.

The stories you never hear about

There are some stories that seem really interesting to me, yet they don't seem to get the coverage they deserve.

Take for example a very unusual crime story I read in today's Mirror. A teenage girl, who is blind, was sitting in a car waiting for her great aunt when carjackers drove off in it. She didn't realise what had happened until she told her 'great aunt' to slow down and a man shouted back at her. She was taken on a terrifying ride around town for an hour, but luckily was unhurt after the ordeal. Police are looking for the carjackers.

Sounds exciting, no? A little bit out of the ordinary, isn't it? Yet, I didn't hear about it on TV or the radio. It's an incident that happened a few days ago, but details have only just been released by the police, so it's news. And surely there are some interesting details in it. Even in the Mirror, where I found it, it was way back in the paper.

That's surprising, and rather odd. So I looked around to see if the story was elsewhere.

Well the Mail have covered it, to be fair to them for once in my blog. But you won't find it on the front page of their website, despite it being more recent than a lot of what's on there. Curious. They find "The moment a BBC cricket commentator couldn't stop laughing at the player who couldn't keep his rod down", "Heatwave to return for Bank Holiday scorcher to cap off the warmest May since records began", "Nintendo Wii 'Fit' game tells 10-year-old girl that she's fat" and "Bad luck Arctic Monkeys, turns out Gordon Brown really likes listening to the Bee Gees instead". That's odd, I wonder why? Still, at least they have actually covered it, so I shouldn't be harsh on them for once.

The Express? No, they haven't covered it at all. Strange.

The Sun? I can't find it on their website, but then again I can't find anything on their website, which seems designed for children. Children who like wanking and football, I grant you, but children.

The BBC? Well, I can't find it on their website at all.

The Guardian? Nope. Not there.

The Telegraph? No.

The Times? Sorry, no joy there either.

Sky News? No, afraid not. How odd.

That's a little bit strange, isn't it. Well, I do find that curious. Fair play to the Mirror and - for once - the Mail for covering this story, which I - and maybe me alone - found really intriguing. Teenage girl... carjacked... blind so didn't know it was her great auntie till she told her she was going too fast... well it sounds all right, doesn't it? A good enough story, no?

I wonder if there are any clues in the story as to why it's not been regarded as worthy of coverage by our news media...?

Samara Hussain, 15, was returning from a Muslim religious festival when the men hijacked the vehicle and drove off at speed.

Oh. I see.

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