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31 May 2012updated 26 Sep 2015 6:47pm

Expressing half-truths

Lies, damn lies, and Express front-pages

By Alex Hern

The Express’ front page today is pretty clear:

Doctors earn £110,000 a year?! Well, no. Some doctors earn £110,000 a year. Not that you would know it from the piece, which doesn’t source that figure at all. In the commentary next to the lead article, Dr Dan Poulter MP reveals:

The average salary of a GP is almost £110,000.

So what “£110,000 a year doctors to strike over pay” means is “some doctors who earn £110,000 will strike over pay. Other doctors, who earn less, will also strike.” Which reasoning can also work for headlines like “Footballers who have never scored a goal win world cup”, “Drug addicts are productive members of society” and “misleading headlines in the Express”.

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