Vacuous press releases

Honest John Back Room » Legal matters
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Tue 8 Jul 2008 12:54
Vacuous press releases - Statistical outlier
The completely useless press releases section on this site appears to have hit a new low with the 'favourite destination is Germany' article today.

The section that is confusing me is:

"However, drivers may still be at risk of invalidating their car insurance policy when heading abroad.

"This is because Vauxhall found that 35 per cent of people are uncomfortable travelling on European highways."

I don't understand. How exactly does not being comfortable travelling on a road invalidate your insurance?? How low do they think their reader's average IQ is? It makes no sense at all. Can someone enlighten me?
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Tue 8 Jul 2008 12:59
Vacuous press releases - jbif
Can someone enlighten me?


I have occasionally in the past [once or twice a month] clicked on an article as the headline tempted me to find out what the full story was. I am curious who the "author" of these dumbed down "news" items is, and which target audience he/she has in mind. It surely cannot be the readership of this forum, or can it?

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Tue 8 Jul 2008 13:52
Vacuous press releases - NARU
I agree - and no longer read them.
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Tue 8 Jul 2008 14:44
Vacuous press releases - Bilboman
I've just had a look at the offending article and a few others and can only conclude that it is part of a project involving a local primary school with trainee cub reporters asked to "rewrite the article in your own words".
The teacher in charge probably used the following tips:
"Always include the phrase 'new research has found', then people will sit up and take notice."
"Use an utterly unnecessary synonym whenever possible" (i.e. company vehicle/car - commercial automobile; high visibility vest - garment)
"State the blindingly obvious for the benefit of readers who have been asleep for the past sixty years" ("fuel duty - an unwanted cost in addition to high road tax and car insurance bills"); ("A useful piece of car buying advice for those looking for a new vehicle is to check a secondhand model thoroughly, it has been claimed.") ("Oil levels 'need to be checked regularly'")
"Change the words about a bit and forget about syntax" ("It could be that people who invalidate (sic) this law...";
"Blow the reader away with a dazzling insight every so often" ("a trend in larger cars as well as distracted drivers could also be to blame.")
If I had written such drivel at my school I am quite sure I would have been thrashed to within an inch of my life. And it wasn't a particularly posh school :-)
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