Like a crowd of Paul Nuttalls, they press forward into the comments section, STOP, STOP writing right there.
“The timing is appalling, how dare you write about things in the news,” they complained to the satirical news site. “You owe us more than this tasteless article,” they griped about something free that they hadn’t read. “If you dare compare a 1989 tragedy to a 2017 tragedy again, well, well, I will, erm, I will again not click on the article to help raise funds through advertising to donate to the victims.”
What dear reader, you didn’t come here to be ranted at? Is there a point? Well, there is a serious point to be made here, if you’ll deign to read it. The other day, a visibly distressed resident who had been evacuated from one of the Camden tower blocks appeared on Good Morning Britain with her young children. Twitter lit up with people keen to highlight how this woman was not a victim, despite this severe disruption to her life as it became apparent she had been housed in a deathtrap.
A twitter user describing herself as “Champion against the abuse of those without a voice” was nonetheless happy to question why she had brought 4 kids into a life of poverty, saying she should be grateful for a roof over her head (even if it’s a death trap). The only victims in her eyes, were the dead, the injured, and the bereaved.
And yet, we look at Hillsborough, and we see a lot more of us angry. Angry that it could happen, angry at the media coverage, and angry that justice has taken so long. How very dare you write about that satirist.
The twitter user was not alone. Many others commented in a similar vein. “This woman is everything that is wrong with society,” said one. “Perhaps if she (he?) got off her arse…” said another. And of course, the colour of this woman did nothing to influence views, “Lenny Henrys new character needs to work on her banter!” read another, and so on.
So, again, we end with a simple question: If someone who wasn’t at Hillsborough can feel grief and want justice for the tragedy, for the length of time it took for justice, can’t someone who wasn’t at Grenfell also feel grief, and also want to ensure that justice is swift, and that preventative measures are taken?
And by ensuring we keep talking about it, keep minds focussed on it, can’t we help ensure that neither happens again? Or is that not our place? How dare we draw links between two tragedies that happen to be in the news at the same time, that’s clearly not the job of a satirical news site. Neither is social commentary, so how dare we satirise our “didn’t read-it-ship”?
Perhaps something more neutral. How about a nice headline gag about the weather? Fine, here you go:
“Every time it rains, God is crying at how many of his children grow up stupid.”
