Useless and faddy. Jamie Oliver has tainted it and you know it’s not cool when politicians blame it for terrorism. If I was really cynical I might say that the Mumbai bombers were actually the PR staff.

So-called Sudanese refugee gangs in Australia were consistently misreported as roaming and pillaging when closer inspection on an evening watchdog showed that, in fact, the videos shown on the news actually displayed white robbers watched by Sudanese shoppers.

That was 2007. This year has fared no better with the boyfriend of Sally Anne Bowman, the murdered model, being attributed with the children and convictions of her killer, Mark Dixie. Not only that, but within a few weeks, reports that the deceased Chief Constable of Greater Manchester had written notes to family and friends when, in fact, he hadn’t. Let’s have a look:

Manchester police chief Michael Todd found dead at bottom of cliff

By Nigel Bunyan and Gordon Rayner
Last Updated: 2:34am GMT 16/03/2008

One of Britain’s most senior policemen has been found dead after apparently throwing himself off a cliff in Snowdonia.
# Update: Police chief had been drinking gin before death
# Obituary: Chief Constable Michael Todd’s life
# Chief Constable’s state of mind ‘worried’ officers

Michael Todd, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, had written notes to members of his family which indicated an intent to commit suicide, sources said…

To be contrasted with the following:

Police chief had high blood-alcohol level, inquest confirms

This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Thursday March 13 2008. It was last updated at 17:10 on March 13 2008.
Greater Manchester police chief Michael Todd

Michael Todd, the chief constable of Greater Manchester, had high levels of alcohol in his bloodstream when his body was found on a north Wales mountainside, the inquest into his death was told today.

The doctor who conducted a post-mortem examination said he would withhold his opinion on the cause of death pending toxicology tests on Todd’s blood. But he confirmed the father-of-two did not die as a result of falling.

His body had no major injuries, only “superficial” cuts above the right eye, on the nose, the left shin and the right hand, consultant pathologist Dr Anthony Caslin said.

The coroner, Dewi Pritchard Jones, told the inquest he had decided to give details about Todd’s body at the inquest opening in order to “allay suspicion and fears” created by false media reports. Normally, an inquest opening is a very brief procedure with no details of death given.

“We are hearing this evidence today to get rid of some of the ridiculous stories I have read in the papers and had put to me over the last day,” Pritchard Jones said.

Police are examining whether the 50-year-old police chief killed himself. Todd was found to have 105 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system, Caslin said. The legal limit for driving is 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres…

…An initial post-mortem examination into Todd’s death yesterday found no immediate cause of death.

Caslin said Todd’s body was well-nourished but had a pink discoloration caused by exposure. He was wearing “sturdy” mountain boots that had no scuff markings and his body showed no signs of him jumping to his death. There were no fractures to the spine, skull, ribs or major limbs, and no damage to major organs.

Pritchard-Jones gave his authority for the body to be released to Todd’s family. No date was set for the full inquest…

…Since Todd’s body was recovered on Tuesday evening, there has been speculation about his personal life, the possible cause of death and items found at the scene.

Greater Manchester police have already rejected reports that any notes were found on or near Todd’s body. A series of reports said notes to his family had been discovered.

“The misreporting of this matter has caused considerable distress to Mr Todd’s family,” the police force said in a statement…

…Detectives investigating Todd’s death have been studying notes he left in his flat and phone messages he sent in his final hours showing he was in a distressed state of mind.

Its time for a new Shitopedia feature. The first ever Shitopedia feature to be precise, after a raft of wholly unsatisfactory ‘news’ wends its way to us every day: on the television, in the newspapers and on the internet.

Each day, I hear at least one story where I think “Is that news? Is that the story? Have you just reported what some idiot said at the time without checking your facts?” There are a huge number of examples to corroborate this – and to launch our special regular feature, we’ll show you a few of them in:

Is It News, Or Are You Making It Up?

Check it out.