One of The Bug‘s most senior compilers of this column has been lauded by colleagues for his bravery in calling out the latest example of bullshit click-baitery by Nine News Queensland.

Watching promos yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) before the 6pm bulletin that claimed that nurses (plural) had decided that they (plural) were forced to leave Australia because of criminal teenage thuggery, our compiler walked over to the kitchenette on the mezzanine level that houses our MGH researchers at The Bug’s HQ in Brisbane, pulled his daks down, popped his plums out, plopped them on a chopping board and offering a meat cleaver to his mates said simply: “If it turns out there’s more than one nurse involved in this yarn, take ’em off!”

As we should have all known, his plums were safe, not that they’re of much use to him anymore.

Last night’s touts during the 4pm bulletin and Tipping Point were just the latest example of Nine News Queensland not giving a flying fuck about professionalism or accuracy as they strive to still be the one for news.

Sure enough, once the bulletin began, there was only one nurse involved. As newsreader Melissa Downes explained at the get go: “…(word indistinguishable) nurse fleeing the country because of teen criminal gangs”. And later on, before one of the ad breaks: “A Queensland nurse fleeing overseas after being terrorised by teen criminals. Her pleas for help ignored”.

A few more points about Nine News Queensland’s penchant for overblown hyperbole in promoting their bulletins and, we repeat, not giving a flying fuck about how lacking in journalism ethics that comes across as.

When the story finally ran – the last of the night which might suggest its real value – the English nurse who worked at the Mount Isa hospital had her home broken into and then some months later, a 14-year-old girl also living at the residence was bashed up by two other girls. The nurse asked authorities to move them to safer housing and returned to England when this was not agreed to.

Just some words of advice to Nine News Queensland who clearly love to exaggerate matters, especially when it’s fairly clear their aim is to see the end of the Miles Labor government come October, seeing every Queenslander is living in fear of rampant teenage crime.

Two girls pictured bashing up another girl does not constitute criminal gangs – gangs plural. Even one gang is very much overreach if the truth be known. And attacks, plural?

And it might pay to stop calling those young attackers criminals in the first place unless you know for sure they have criminal convictions. Could get a bit messy in court should someone take offence. Your own defence that you’re just trying to scare Queenslanders shitless and you do like to exaggerate things to boost viewer numbers might not carry much weight in a defamation case.

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