The Mirror is the self-styled "intelligent tabloid" that deploys the hashtag #madeuthink. The daily is the home of Kevin Maguire; its Sunday sister has another Kevin, O'Sullivan. They are two of the most engaging, entertaining and intellectually coherent red-top talents in the land.
Today they are not well served by the choice of the word "miracle" in the daily organ's splash headline and copy.
Michael Schumacher, the German former Formula 1 champion and erstwhile target of Mirror opprobrium, suffered life-threatening injuries in a high-speed off-piste skiing accident last December.
Miracle has a variety of meanings, as the Oxford dictionary records. Its usage may or may not suggest some divine agency is thought to have been involved in an event.
The Mirror's account today refers to "the miracle fans had prayed for", so there is more than a hint of unverifiable action by some supernatural entity.
People talk, sometimes loosely, sometimes with religious fervour, about events being "miracles" and "miraculous". Journalists really ought to be a little more careful about tapping into such a theistic mindset for their reportage and story presentation.
Tabloids have long been fond of invoking the spooky woo factor. As far as I am aware, no deities have been available for interview about the plight of Schumacher. Any rational reporter might be asking why, if this new development is a miracle, there was not a miracle that prevented the ghastly accident in the first place.
The only obvious interventions by intelligent beings in this Schumacher saga have been those of the emergency services, doctors, nurses and other medical staff, and his family, friends and entourage.
People have accidents. Some accidents are worse than others. Some healthcare is excellent, some dire. Some people die of seemingly trivial conditions. Some people survive major trauma. There is a global statistics industry that measures, records and analyses such results, and recommends whether there should be changes to medical practice. I suspect Schumacher has had outstanding care in centres of excellence that are geared up for complex, potentially deadly, neurological skiing injuries.
Maybe I am expecting too much of an "intelligent tabloid" to ditch the airy-fairy hocus-pocus, concentrate on the evidence and thus be radically different from its folk-religionist rivals. Dear Mirror, look at yourself. And with more faith than charity, I live in hope of your redemption.
Today they are not well served by the choice of the word "miracle" in the daily organ's splash headline and copy.
Michael Schumacher, the German former Formula 1 champion and erstwhile target of Mirror opprobrium, suffered life-threatening injuries in a high-speed off-piste skiing accident last December.
Miracle has a variety of meanings, as the Oxford dictionary records. Its usage may or may not suggest some divine agency is thought to have been involved in an event.
The Mirror's account today refers to "the miracle fans had prayed for", so there is more than a hint of unverifiable action by some supernatural entity.
People talk, sometimes loosely, sometimes with religious fervour, about events being "miracles" and "miraculous". Journalists really ought to be a little more careful about tapping into such a theistic mindset for their reportage and story presentation.
Tabloids have long been fond of invoking the spooky woo factor. As far as I am aware, no deities have been available for interview about the plight of Schumacher. Any rational reporter might be asking why, if this new development is a miracle, there was not a miracle that prevented the ghastly accident in the first place.
The only obvious interventions by intelligent beings in this Schumacher saga have been those of the emergency services, doctors, nurses and other medical staff, and his family, friends and entourage.
People have accidents. Some accidents are worse than others. Some healthcare is excellent, some dire. Some people die of seemingly trivial conditions. Some people survive major trauma. There is a global statistics industry that measures, records and analyses such results, and recommends whether there should be changes to medical practice. I suspect Schumacher has had outstanding care in centres of excellence that are geared up for complex, potentially deadly, neurological skiing injuries.
Maybe I am expecting too much of an "intelligent tabloid" to ditch the airy-fairy hocus-pocus, concentrate on the evidence and thus be radically different from its folk-religionist rivals. Dear Mirror, look at yourself. And with more faith than charity, I live in hope of your redemption.
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