Sunday Independent: Quality newspaper, rag or something in between?

alias141282

There is a facebook site dedicated to the Sunday Independent called "Isn't the Sunday Independent utter rubbish?". Your views people.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=6715253823

Dionysus

alias141282 wrote: »

There is a facebook site dedicated to the Sunday Independent called "Isn't the Sunday Independent utter rubbish". Your views people.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=6715253823

Rag, on an astonishing scale, and consistently so. Beyond belief how anybody finds it interesting or stimulating.

Biggins

I love the paper.
Its big size is great for the floor to mop up spills - and it cleans windows great too.

alias141282

Dionysus wrote: »

Rag, on an astonishing scale, and consistently so. Beyond belief how anybody finds it interesting or stimulating.

I'm inclined to agree. Not fit to be used as bog roll IMO.

Biggins

alias141282 wrote: »

I'm inclined to agree. Not fit to be used as bog roll IMO.

Agree. Tried it. Spent the next 15 minutes trying to clean a then black inked arse!
(..and the paper cuts to my backside were something else too!)

sron

Biggins wrote: »

I love the paper.
Its big size is great for the floor to mop up spills - and it cleans windows great too.

Unfortunately Brendan O'Connor's articles are so saturated with smugness and bull**** that they are physically unable to absorb anything else.

Caoimhín

Rag, property shilling rag.

KerranJast

Any paper which has current Government Ministers and Taoisigh as weekly columnists is suspect from the getgo.

Bonito

Thread needs poll. Utter rag. Never mind left wing or right wing because this rag has not got a notion. The Sunday Independent is a plane and, with no wings, it's going nowhere.

Biggins

Bonito wrote: »

...this rag has not got a notion. The Sunday Independent is a plane and, with no wings, it's going nowhere.

Its emulating the Green Party then?

Bonito

Biggins wrote: »

Its emulating the Green Party then?

3 years ago Trevor Sargent promised my local boxing club vital funds for new facilities. We never seen a penny. So yes, both the Greens and this paper are full of shít IMO.

Kiera

Its kinda inbetween. Its not as bad as the Sun and the Mail.

alias141282

Did any of you see this article?: http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/health-fitness/dont-hate-me-because-im-thin-2029412.html

"Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels".

Bonito

alias141282 wrote: »

Did any of you see this article?: http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/health-fitness/dont-hate-me-because-im-thin-2029412.html

"Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels".

For those on mobile;

Sindo wrote:

When she was fat, no one ever said a word to her about it. But when she got thin, the bitchy comments came thick and fast. As she recalls her own ups and downs, Niamh Horan wonders why we have to tread on eggshells around fat people, while it's open season on those who are thin.

But, she says, she will bear the slings and arrows because, as Kate Moss says, nothing tastes as good as skinny feels. Photography by Sarah Doyle

On my fridge there proudly hang the photographs of 16 semi-naked women. Some are bending over cars in string bikinis, others are suggestively peeling down their hot pants, and still others gaze back at me every morning as I open the door for a carton of juice, while they prance around in revealing lingerie.

The only thing they have in common is that they all appear unapologetically smug about one thing. They are all vaingloriously, enviably thin.

Naturally, my unorthodox shrine to the skinny never fails to raise an eyebrow. Whenever we have new company over, guests will walk towards it, open-mouthed, as they read aloud the quotes at the centre of the display, which champion slimness.

"Thin has a taste all of its own", "Not eating right makes your clothes too tight" and, of course, the now infamous motto that landed supermodel Kate Moss in hot water several weeks ago: "Nothing tastes as good as being skinny feels."

And do you know what? She's damn right.

The reason her comments were met with such uproar is that, unfortunately, the scales of political correctness have slid unceremoniously into the hands of fat people.

But before you choke on your double-cream jam doughnut, let me explain.

We now live in a world where clothing giants label bigger clothes with smaller sizes so their expanding customers won't feel so bad about their weight; where entire associations have been set up to promote fat acceptance; and where ludicrously politically correct terms are bandied about while those who aren't fat tiptoe on eggshells for fear of upsetting the feelings of fat people.

These days, in some sections of society a slim woman isn't just slim; she is now labelled as having 'thin privilege'. For crying out loud!

As one pro-fat supporter argued, people blessed with thin privilege "do not have to worry about fitting into restaurant booths, airplane seats, or other small public spaces; they can go to any department store and know they will have clothes in their size.'' And -- wait for this -- "they can even eat in a fast-food establishment without being pegged as the typical 'Super Size Me' fatty."

But the rest of us earn our comfort in seats and our fashionable clothes.

We decline copious amounts of fatty food and we exercise regularly; therefore we can enjoy these so-called simple privileges in life.

To stop you clogging up my post box with cries of "fattist", let me explain how I've come to this harsh, but entirely honest, viewpoint.

I used to be fat.

At 17, when I should have been enjoying my teens, meeting boys and celebrating my newfound womanly shape, I was stuffing my face with greasy takeaways and king-size Snickers bars.

I'd wake up and eat four slices of toast smothered with butter and jam; at 11am I'd hit the button on the vending machine and chow down on a Double Decker or another personal favourite, Turkish Delight.

Lunch would consist of curry chips and a can of full-fat Coke. And once at home, tired and drained from a day of Leaving Certificate classes, I would park myself at the dinner table in front of a gigantic bowl of spaghetti Bolognese.

To this day I have a vivid memory of the culinary ceremony that would accompany that stodgy dish. I'd place a tub of grated cheddar cheese to the right of my plate and sprinkle a layer on top of the pasta. Then when the first inch of cheese and spaghetti had been stuffed into my face, I would sprinkle on another layer of cheese, repeating the process all over again until eventually, bloated and satisfied, I found myself at the bottom of a clean plate.

It sounds funny now, but my lowest moment came when I single-handedly ate an entire packet of Fig Rolls (there was 100 per cent extra free) before my mom arrived home to find me bent in two from the pain and bloating of over-indulgence.

I cried from the ache of my twisted gut as she took me upstairs and ran me a hot bath.

So there I was, sitting in Radox, looking like what can only be described as a Shar-Pei puppy. You know, that breed of dog with folds of deep wrinkles and extra skin?

Ashamed as I am to admit it, that was me.

That night, my mother didn't say a word. And in case you're thinking schoolyard taunts would have set alarm bells ringing, apart from one comment by two boys about the hefty size of my backside, no one uttered a syllable.

And so I began to live in denial, and every morning before school would throw on the same oversized hoodie belonging to an older brother, eating my way through packets of crisps and bowls of ice cream every time a flicker of unhappiness about my growing waistband caught me off-guard.

The bottom line is I wanted the junk more than I wanted to be thin.

In the end, as with everything in life, it took someone who truly cares.

And so my mom, who had kept her counsel while I sat my exams, did the decent thing. As I sat into the car on the last day of my Leaving Cert, she explained how she was rewarding me with a surprise. She drove me straight to the local gym, where I was told in no uncertain terms that it was time to lose the weight.

Deep down I knew it myself; I just needed someone to give me that extra little push.

Up I plonked on the scales as the excruciating figure sprang up.

"11 and a half stone," declared the sympathetic instructor.

"What? Are you sure?" I protested. There was no response: my mom just gave me a knowing smile.

I had climbed all the way to that hefty figure from a healthy eight stone.

I vowed to do everything within my power to shift the extra weight.

I kept a diary of everything I ate, logged my exercise sessions (five to seven times a week) and dropped that extra baggage quicker than you could hand me a pair of Spanx. Within a few short months, I had dropped to 7 stone 12lbs, just over three and a half stone lighter than the day I was given my wake-up call.

In hindsight, I was a bit too thin for my 5ft 6in frame, but better that than the alternative nonetheless.

And then a really funny thing happened. Suddenly, friends felt they could get away with saying ridiculously hurtful things to me, purely because I was once again slim.

I lost count of the times I was told I had the figure of a boy, or that people decided to point out how I had no breasts. Without prompt or question, I would regularly be told on nights out that my face didn't look pretty anymore, or that I was simply no longer attractive. A girl I barely knew even sent her boyfriend over in the middle of a buzzing nightclub to give me a hug and tell me to put on some weight.

Every comment seemed off the cuff, without a second thought for my feelings. Funny how society thinks it can pass on hurtful remarks and assume a person won't feel it if they have 'thin privilege'.

But when I would point this out to them, they would simply shrug and say: "I'm just telling you for your own good."

To this day, I am baffled as to why people have no problem voicing their aversion to the sight of a bit of ribcage, or recoil in disgust when a collarbone dares to protrude a little too much, yet those same weight watchers clam up for fear of hurting people's feelings when it comes to judging those among us who are carrying an extra few stone.

And yet, never has there been a time when honesty was more needed.

Ireland's streets are filled with fat people: with women with legs so large they waddle when they walk, with men with guts so vast it's hard to even picture the amount of morning fries and late-night takeaways it has taken to get them to that sad and lonely place.

Obesity is now endemic in Ireland, and is one of the major challenges facing our health services.

Latest figures from the Obesity Task Force show that 39 per cent of the population is now overweight; 18 per cent of the population is obese; 22 per cent of children aged between seven and 12 are overweight or obese, and up to 300,000 children could become obese soon, if present trends continue.

It's madness.

The cost of this disease to the nation's health, its health service and the economy as a whole is immeasurable. And yet, the frustrating thing is that it is entirely preventable.

Leaving aside people who have genuine health conditions such as an underactive thyroid gland, show me an obese person who claims to eat just three healthy square meals of fish, salad and vegetables a day and I'll show you a liar.

Show me an overweight person who pounds the pavements each morning and abstains from junk food, and we'll shadow them for a week so I can prove you wrong.

Show me a fat person who is happy in their own skin and I'll show you someone in serious denial.

I've been there; I should know.

Perhaps now you can see why I have a serious disdain for all things obese.

Don't get me wrong: I don't hate fat people. I just hate the extra weight they're carrying.

Whether it's the unsightly muffin top that pops out over the waist of their jeans, those surplus inches that spill from under an ill-fitting T-shirt, or the extra chin that appears the moment they burst out laughing at a funny joke.

It's all so unnecessary.

It's not the unsightliness of it that gets me. Nor is it the fact that they are such a heavy burden on our already overstretched health-care system. Heck, it's not even the thought that they are slowly killing themselves for the sake of all things sugar-coated.

It's the knowledge that the majority of them are lying to themselves and to society.

Despite what they tell you, they are not happy in their own skin. They're not bubbly, friendly, happy-go-lucky characters who have this extra-great personality to compensate for that extra three stone they don't need.

They're miserable, they're lonely, they pine for their skinny selves during rare or not so rare moments of solitary reflection, and they need a way out.

And sometimes they may need someone close to give them that extra nudge in the right direction.

We need to ask ourselves why we feel so morally obliged to confront someone about their weight when they're dropping on the scales because we see it as a serious health concern, and yet become too socially embarrassed to challenge others on their expanding waistline.

"Ah sure, God love them," is our sympathetic attitude, as we let them off the hook because there's simply too much stigma attached to telling someone they're fat.

Well, if you're reading this and you're fat with no genuine medical cause, I have no sympathy for you. You're lazy, you're making excuses and you're letting yourself down, all for the sake of the fleeting comfort only a bickie tin or a late-night kebab can provide.

When it boils down to it, each and every one of us has to take responsibility for our own weight.

We can blame a fat gene, oversized parents, the convenience of junk food, confectionary advertisers, stress or long work hours until the cows stroll home, but in the end it is we who have to face our reflections in the mirror.

If Barack Obama can find time to exercise for an hour each morning before he runs the most powerful country in the world, then so can you.

The best analogy I've heard for the battle many fat people face these days is the story of how the fisherman handles a box of crabs. When he goes fishing, he dumps all the crabs into a big box without bothering to secure it with a lid. This is because he knows if some of them try to escape by climbing up the side, they'll be pulled back down by the ones left behind. My advice to fat people is not to let family or friends keep you down, simply because they're afraid of hurting your feelings by suggesting you should escape from the fat trap.

And to those of you who know someone who is overweight, grow a pair of balls and decide on a way of confronting them about their problem. It may be a bit upsetting for them when you bring it up, but believe me, they'll thank you in the long run.

L

alias141282

Kiera wrote: »

Its kinda inbetween. Its not as bad as the Sun and the Mail.

I think why the Independent is so offensive is that it actually pretends to be a quality broadsheet newspaper but in reality it is not much above the Sun and the Mail.

Its also extremely agenda driven. Forget whatever your political ideology is, the point is there is no real debate, just the same messages over and over.

Kiera

alias141282 wrote: »

I think why the Independent is so offensive is that it actually pretends to be a quality broadsheet newspaper but in reality it is not much above the Sun and the Mail.

Ah i agree there is some tripe in it alright but i wouldnt put it up there with those rags just yet.

Joey the lips

I am tempted to say complete rag... but even it with its tabloid news does not stoop as low as

The Oirsh sun
The Oirsh daily mail


But I have to say I an "Examiner" man myself...

Truley

Complete trash but I confess I buy it for train or bus journeys. My boyfriend likes the porn magazine that comes with it

brianthebard

Bonito wrote: »

For those on mobile;

There's no such thing as full-fat coke! What a terrible excuse for a journalist.

flynnlives

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/health-fitness/dont-hate-me-because-im-thin-2029412.html
Is this now the the standard of journalism in ireland?

That has to be the biggest load of rubbish iv ever read. Is this her real job? Is she getting paid to write this nonsense? **** me!

I dont see the problem with the Indo and sundy indo.

I think it actually depends which part of the country you are in through with regards to peoples opinion of it. Down here in Cork everybody buy's the Irish Times (Yawn) and Examiner (never bought it) and no one appears to buy the Indo, Up home in Galway everyone buys the Independent and few buy the Irish Times.

I would put the Indo the the same bracket as the Irish Times except its less boring and as its been bought in my house as far back as I can remember I more used to its layout so prefer reading it. Its definitely not a tabloid. Its the only paper Id buy except the Racing post or something like the mirror for its racing pull out and the rest in the bin.

alias141282

flynnlives wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/independent-woman/health-fitness/dont-hate-me-because-im-thin-2029412.html
Is this now the the standard of journalism in ireland?

That has to be the biggest load of rubbish iv ever read. Is this her real job? Is she getting paid to write this nonsense? **** me!

Yes she is actually paid by Independent newspapers to write this stuff. Here's another example: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/hes-up-there-sweeping-the-step-of--the-caravan-right-now-sure-wasnt--he-out-strimming-the-grass-earlier-1451295.html

Biggins

Amiya High Rattan wrote: »

...I would put the Indo the the same bracket as the Irish Times except its less boring and as its been bought in my house as far back as I can remember I more used to its layout so prefer reading it. Its definitely not a tabloid.

Aww bless... I'd like to be that young again.

For Forks Sake

sron wrote: »

Unfortunately Brendan O'Connor's articles are so saturated with smugness and bull**** that they are physically unable to absorb anything else.

There's a Facebook page for that as well : http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5007294115 , the Campaign To Have Brendan O'Connor Horsewhipped.

It's an atrocious rag of a paper, employing some of the most vapid excuses for journalists ever allowed to put their nonsensical thoughts to print

alias141282

Amiya High Rattan wrote: »

I dont see the problem with the Indo and sundy indo.

Its definitely not a tabloid.

You think it actually does good investigative journalism, serving a democratic function, exposing corruption and abuse of power, providing a forum for really meaningful debate, all for the common good?

flynnlives

A distinction needs to be made between the sunday indo and the indo during the week. The daily one is alright. Sunday is just pure muck

Agricola

The sunday independent isnt the worst, in between id say. I bracket it and the Irish Times above the rest. But still, the Sunday Independent deals with Irish issues from front page to back page, including the supplements. Have you read the Sunday Times recently? Its basically the British version with some Irish news tacked in here and there.
I dont mind that myself. Id rather read a travel or motoring supplement article written by someone in London, rather than wading through Brendan O Connor's attempts at journalism. But still, its allegedly an Irish paper, technically it should'nt be filled with wall to wall British election coverage!

cson

Watch them slag the ****e out of the very people they depend on in that porno mag that comes with it. I think people buy it out of habit rather than for what it is.

Overall the Sunday newspapers in Ireland are ****e enough. The Times is alright, I'd say a it destroys one rainforest per edition though - unbeliveable amount of stuff with it.

KerranJast

Agricola wrote: »

Have you read the Sunday Times recently? Its basically the British version with some Irish news tacked in here and there.

TBF it's always been that way. In fact it's added more Irish news in recent years and reduced the size of the "news" section which annoys me a bit.

Sunday "news"papers are a misnomer anyway. They're rarely up to date and nearly all the opinion pieces are written on a Thursday. Sport is possibly the only reason I'd buy one (haven't in a while now to think of it) and even then they seem to go to print at 6pm on Saturday the lazy so&sos :rolleyes:

hairyleprechaun

alias141282 wrote: »

Yes she is actually paid by Independent newspapers to write this stuff. Here's another example: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/hes-up-there-sweeping-the-step-of--the-caravan-right-now-sure-wasnt--he-out-strimming-the-grass-earlier-1451295.html

Wow! She is really quite useless!

"heading out for the odd quite pint"
Anyone notice anything wrong with that line? If she could at least know the difference between quiet and quite it'd be a start. Spellcheck doesn't catch everything.

Could she not leave the man alone on his holiday? She didn't even have a reason to be there. To see how he was getting on? What is the point of that? When he then asks her not to give away where he stays she does anyway, what a donkey.

Sickened I read it, but I wanted to give her a chance. That was absolute muck with no point to the article at all.

The way she finished it was useless too:
"And all in an area that bore an uncanny resemblance to Craggy Island. Now even the creators of Fr Ted couldn't concoct something as funny as that."

What was funny? The fact that he was staying in a caravan? What?

What section of the paper does she write in?

At the top of the page it shows: "You are here: Home > National News" :eek:


And on the newspaper as a whole, I just look at the cartoons at this stage, one or two articles sometimes worth a read but that is it.
Not much alternative as far as I can see though, are most papers not filled with tripe anyway?

If someone wants to suggest a broadsheet worth reading I'll gladly take a look.

force majeure

When some one dislikes something like say an Ex then one should ovoid it at all costs, muppetting on and on and on about it well drive one quiet mad. :D:D:D:D

flynnlives

hairyleprechaun wrote: »

Wow! She is really quite useless!

"heading out for the odd quite pint"
Anyone notice anything wrong with that line? If she could at least know the difference between quiet and quite it'd be a start. Spellcheck doesn't catch everything.

Could she not leave the man alone on his holiday? She didn't even have a reason to be there. To see how he was getting on? What is the point of that? When he then asks her not to give away where he stays she does anyway, what a donkey.

Sickened I read it, but I wanted to give her a chance. That was absolute muck with no point to the article at all.

The way she finished it was useless too:
"And all in an area that bore an uncanny resemblance to Craggy Island. Now even the creators of Fr Ted couldn't concoct something as funny as that."

What was funny? The fact that he was staying in a caravan? What?

What section of the paper does she write in?

The whole article was a shill, pure FF propaganda to spin Brian the salt of the earth Taoiseach. There is no way in hell she would randomly show up and have biscuits and tea with him.
Codology of the highest order.

General Zod

brianthebard wrote: »

There's no such thing as full-fat coke! What a terrible excuse for a journalist.

It also means she doesn't understand what the actual fattening thing in Coke/Diet Coke is.

tipperaryboy

Its not to bad,it does have a large amount of tripe but there are a few good articles worth reading in it from time to time.A paper never refuses ink and thats the case with every newspaper.There isnt really many allternatives on a sunday are there? Alot of people buy it out of habit anyway.

General Zod

Tribune or the Sunday Business Post are far better. Hell, even the non business reporting in the SBP is far ahead of the Sindo or the News of the Screws.

Spiritoftheseventies

Gene Kerrigans column is worth the price of the paper alone. Essential reading.

SlabMurphy

Spiritoftheseventies wrote: »

Gene Kerrigans column is worth the price of the paper alone. Essential reading.

Have'nt read the toilet roll in a long time, but Gene Kerrigan is good - if he allowed to write as he's sees it and not spiked by the editor.

Thomas828

Whatever anyone says about the Indo or the Sindo, no Irish tabloid is as naff as the Sunday World, a sorry waste of precious paper. Its on-line edition is just as crass.

Spiritoftheseventies

SlabMurphy wrote: »

Have'nt read the toilet roll in a long time, but Gene Kerrigan is good - if he allowed to write as he's sees it and not spiked by the editor.

I wouldnt think Gene would allow to have his copy spiked tbh. Cant say I have noticed it.

mloc

It's not a paper, it's just Hello printed in a different format.

L.Jenkins

Could be better! I've read worse papers that would be better served as toilet paper, (may have been mentioned already) for example The Sun.

orourkeda

In the normal course of events one uses toilet paper to cleanse ones buttocks following the excretion of faecal matter from one's anus.

Using the Sunday Independent would just hinder this process by leaving Brendan O'Connors sh*t there too. In conclusion I wouldnt wipe my ass with the Sunday Independent.

argonaut

Hilariously awful rag, and closer to the Daily Mail than the actual Irish version of the Daily Mail.

sron

What's the best Sunday paper to get anyway? I'm familiar with The Sunday Times but don't like it that much. Where do The Observer, Tribune, et al stand?

Spiritoftheseventies

sron wrote: »

What's the best Sunday paper to get anyway? I'm familiar with The Sunday Times but don't like it that much. Where do The Observer, Tribune, et al stand?

Tribune if I had to choose. Like Susan Breens coverage on the north and Michael Clifford and Ken Foxe (who broke the story on O Donoghue) very good as well.

I actually think the indo on a sunday isn't too bad...its better than it is the rest of the week anyway..

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

stovelid

It's one of the most abhorrent rags around.

In some ways, I dislike it even even more than the obvious tabloid candidates because of the disingenuous way it passes off its moralistic tattle, social-diaristics-as-opinion and general forelock-tugging as being somehow other than the former.

brianthebard

sron wrote: »

What's the best Sunday paper to get anyway? I'm familiar with The Sunday Times but don't like it that much. Where do The Observer, Tribune, et al stand?

The Observer is ok, but a bit too middle class centrist for me. tribune is a FG mouthpiece iirc (and I might not cause I'm crap with names), I quite like the English Independent (The IoS) but it can be quite anti-countryside sometimes.

General Zod

brianthebard wrote: »

tribune is a FG mouthpiece iirc (and I might not cause I'm crap with names), .

more anti-FF than pro FG, but once you take that into account it's generally better than the Sindo (who'll back whatever policy keeps it's D4 readership happy).

Prof.Badass

The normal independant is pretty shitty aswell. If i remember correctly they were the ones who called GTA a "kids computer game" when the whole secret sex-scene thing came out (ffs it's an 18s game).

I once got the saturday independant on a 4 hour flight to pass the time with a friend adding funny captions to the photos (it was a boring flight). Anyway, we ended up reading the articles. The amount of innacuracies we found were amazing. I guess back in the day newspapers could trot out all sorts of ****e and without the free flow of information available on the web the readers would be none the wiser. Now they're continuing the way they were, instead of adapting to cope with an increasingly educated and informed readership.

I get my news from the internet, avoiding stand-alone articles if possible. Boards has way more balanced discussion and differing viewpoints than any newspaper could.