Protesters have staged a rally outside the offices of a weekly newspaper after what they claim was a “xenophobic” and “racist” front page story.
Between 30 and 40 demonstrators gathered outside the base of the Ayrshire Post on Tuesday afternoon to make their feelings known about the story, which appeared on the front page of last week’s edition of the newspaper.
Under the headline ‘Beggar Off,’ it claimed that beggars, including trafficked Eastern Europeans, could be earning up to £200 a day on the streets of Ayr.
However some readers objected to the language used in the story, citing examples such as the terms “roving Eastern European gangs” and “lone-wolf Scottish scroungers”. An amended version of the story published online does not contain the terms in question.
The story spawned the creation of protest group under the name Protest the Ayrshire Post: Stop Spreading Hate in Ayrshire.
More than 600 people have signed a petition calling on the Trinity Mirror-owned title to apologise for what it described as “targeting the vulnerable poor and homeless.”
A message on the group’s Facebook page reads: “This article uses nothing but xenophobic, racist and inciteful language.”
The protest group says that as a result of Tuesday’s demonstration the Post has agreed to publish a letter expressing their concerns in this week’s edition, which is due out tomorrow.
Neill Clark, who helped organise the rally, told HoldtheFrontPage: “(The story) came across as quite xenophobic in parts. The first three lines talk about ‘roving gangs of Eastern Europeans’.
“It might have been to get a reaction more than anything else, but it’s blaming homeless people when for the main with people in that situation it’s not their fault.”
He added the group, pictured below at the offices , would now await the Post’s response in this week’s edition before deciding on the next course of action.
Trinity Mirror has declined to comment on the issue. The online version of the Post’s story can be viewed here.
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Typical politically-correct whingeing.
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If they got £200 a day we’d all be doing it.
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Beggars belief
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£200 a day! I’m off to Ayr.
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Same old story…
Tell the tale, there’s always someone willing to jump in front of the bullet and decide to be offended.
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Are there roving gangs of Eastern Europeans or not? If there are then what’s wrong with saying so if it’s fact?
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Not sure if the story is particularly racist but it definitely contains a rather unpleasant right-wing vibe. I think if it was toned down a bit it would have been an acceptable piece and nobody would have complained
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Horrible journalism.
And this from Scotland’s Weekly of the Year. Awful
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It is now official. Britain has gone stark raving bonkers. Until someone somewhere puts political correctness back in its box the future is grim.
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The front page is only part of the problem. If any of the above commentators took the time to read the original report they would be appalled at the inflammatory language and completely unfounded opinions that litter the report.
The Ayrshire Post has form when it comes to this sort of gutter journalism. It wasn’t so long ago it was claiming the town was a magnet for ‘Gay loo sex’ based on a couple of internet forum posts one of its reporters had found.
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if any of the above commentators took the time to read the original report, as it appeared in print (it’s on twitter) they would be rightly appalled at the inflammatory language used. But much worse is the fact the report is based not on fact but simple base prejudices. There is nothing to back up the wild opinions it presents as fact.
The Ayrshire Post when it comes to this sort of thing. It wasn’t so long ago it was claiming Ayr was a magnet for ‘Gay loo sex’ – based on nothing other than a couple of forum posts one of its reporters had stumbled upon.
Reporting unpleasant facts it’s all very well if there are, you know, facts. What this paper does is play up basic prejudices with no thought given for its actions.
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There are some readers who trawl publications seeking any excuse to be offended so they can display their their political-correctness in public. Good on the paper for giving a local spin to what is a nationwide issue — but it should have remained in the online version..
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Is roving gangs just a lazy phrase or do they exist there, and can the paper prove it? Otherwise it becomes a worthless rant. Not saying there might not be seed of a story, though.
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Bit worrying how many people are harping on about political correctness and completely missing the point.Homelessness 8s not the cause. It is the direct result of a failure in modern society. These people are victims. You do not “hunt” victims.
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One aspect the above story neglects to highlight was the Ayrshire Post’s bill poster, which urged readers to “HUNT BEGGARS OUT OF AYR”.
Slightly inflammatory?
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Looking at some of the comments on here I despair for our country.
It is not political correctness to wonder where the evidence for this article came from. It’s not political correctness to object to the language used which is creating a boogey man for the public to worry about who doesn’t exist. It’s not political correctness to object to xenophobic style language being used when no specific evidence exists. It is not political correctness to wonder why this newspaper didn’t ask what are the social and economic causes for beggars being on the streets. It’s not political correctness to ask why this newspaper is targeting a specific race. It’s not political correctness to wonder why a local newspaper is not trying to tackle the causes rather than make a few slick headlines that sell it.
If you think people that are complaining about this article are only worried about political correctness then I would seriously consider looking at myself in the mirror and not worrying about what others think.
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Good to see a local paper upholding the traditions of real journalism.
It has every right to tell scroungers to ‘beggar off’ or even ‘bugger off’ if it wants to be even more emphatic. That’s what local papers ought to be about – reflecting the concerns and justifiable indignation of their readers.
As for the protesters, they are likely to be the usual suspects – PC freaks, Guardianistas, bleeding hearts and spotty undergrads, all of whom march to the dismal drumbeat of political correctness. However, they deserve to be heard, too, if you can stand the bleating.
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What the Ayrshire Post did wrong in all this was not putting in any balance to the story. A rant, inflammatory, etc, all very well but only putting one side across, pitched with a quote from a police officer saying they were powerless, is not really getting to the root of the problem, or putting it in perspective. Also, if Ayr is willing to hand out £200 in support then surely that’s a line worth looking into? There was a vox pops inside the edition with one person who begged the question about their backgrounds. How about a journo living on the streets and posing as one of them? Lots of avenues. Would be great to see if the circulation increased….
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CT Final sounds sneakily like the author who, incidentally, imported The Sun’s writing style when he moved from the national title to the local one. Sadly the approach has detracted from a truly local newspaper which was once highly respected for an its balance and fairness.
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If there are indeed east European roving gangs there is nothing wrong with describing them as such. It’s called reporting. The PC brigade need to understand that just because a truth is an uncomfortable truth, it doesn’t make it any less true. Maybe they should try to be less sensitive? It’s a big bad world out there.
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£200 a day is about right if one has to sit in the cold and be abused in print by a drunk journo.
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Living in the area I have yet to come across roving bands of eastern europeans and am also frequently unaccosted by wolves whether lone or in bands , I am sure some of the people who complain donate to food banks and suchlike , begging is another sympton of the way that society is going with the gap between haves and have nots getting larger if you don’t approve don’t give but don’t take away other peoples chance to help
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