There’s an old adage in journalism that goes “Never let the facts get in the way of a good story”. And judging by events over these past three days, there was a supposed story from Dubai that was simply too good to be true for British newspaper editors to run with.
The case involved an alleged incident where a father let his daughter drown on a beach in Dubai rather than let two men come to her aid and save her from the ocean. There was death, stereotypes, drama and Dubai — everything that would make for a real good story about the emirates. British newspapers love bad news out of Dubai. And anything that reinforces stereotypical thinking of Brits when it comes to Dubai — or the Gulf for that matter — is worthy of ink.
Cast your mind back to the infamous “sex on the beach” case, or other incidents, and the British tabloid press had a field day. Or when Dubai — just like the rest of the world — was jolted by the global economic crisis, their coverage made it seem as if the crash only happened in the UAE.
Too bad then that the drowning story never happened as it was wildly and widely reported. Yes, there was a incident but the rescuers saved the woman. She later died. Oh? It happened 19 years ago. How about that for breaking news — two decades too late.
