The Truth Is Out As Hell Temporarily Freezes Over

Hell must have frozen over, albeit temporarily as The Daily Mail has admited that ‘Winterval’ , the oft quoted replacement for Xmas supposedly beloved of many UK local authorities, is a myth. Untrue.

Sadly this admission of guilt occurs in the Mail’s Clarifications and Corrections column which is mostly found by searching specifically on their website. Previous corrections are not archived and often a link back to the original story that needed correction is not provided. The column apparently has the blessing of the Press Complaints Commission.

Despite the admission though the articles featuring this misinformation remain on the website whilst the clarification dissolves into the ether as new clarifications replace it.

Predictably a notice below the column states ‘Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons‘.

A good dissection of the Winterval myth as quoted by Britain’s news media can be found here.

Corrections And Clarifications (Mail web site)

Third party compilation archive feed of corrections and clarifications

Winterval (Wikipedia with original Birmingham poster) 

Tape Archive: Phone-In January 17th 1983


Here’s something I’ve meant to share or a while. It’s part of a radio phone which I date as Monday January 17th 1983. It’s interesting as a historical piece as it’s a small window on the cultural  changes in our society revealed by both the host and the ordinary public calling in to comment.

There’s a slight topical link here with regard to the recent riots in Tottenham, London prompted by a shooting by the police. This recording references the mistaken shooting of Stephen Waldorf on January 14th 1983 by police on the streets of Kensignton, London.

Also referenced is the public’s opinion on the launch of breakfast television on the BBC which happened that very morning.

Oh and no surprise in the traffic report which tells us that the Blackwall tunnel is yet again closed.

The host is Robbie Vincent.

An AAC+ encoded version (size:7.5Mb) is available here.

Image by Affendaddy under this creative commons licence