The Daily Mail are painting Warwick students as fighting, vomiting drunk idiots

I wrote a Tab article about riding the Uniexpress sober, and it ended up as national ‘news’

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Two days ago I wrote an article about riding the Uniexpress sober to Neon and back. I interviewed students about any funny experiences they’d had (all with their permission), while on the bus, and published an article for the Warwick Tab documenting my experience.

I never thought anything would come of this piece, and it was supposed to be a funny article for Warwick students to enjoy reading. Not shocking or provocative in anyway.

However, the next day I was alerted to the fact that the Mail Online had taken my piece and given their own “spin” on it. This was a complete surprise as I hardly thought my article was “news” worthy.

In true Daily Mail fashion it slammed students for drinking too much and disgusting behaviour when this was not what was depicted in the original article.

The Uniexpress is for drunk students, it is not shocking that there was drunken behaviour on board. The original Tab article wanted to find out what it is like for a sober person to experience this, and not to criticise student’s behaviour at all.

The Daily Mail believes the Uniexpress is full of horrible young men boasting about their sexual experiences. They couldn’t be more wrong. Students all over the country drink, club and party, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The Daily Mail article has taken quotes out of context, used the word “boasting” which was never originally included, and sensationalised the entire piece. It also skims over the fact that I was interviewing students on behalf of The Tab, and not just listening in on people’s conversations.The Tab is doing everything it can to have the whole piece toned down to the level of the original story.

It should not come as a surprise that the Daily Mail wants to make students look like the biggest and most drunk problem in society. It is a nice detraction from the real social and political issues we experience in the UK today, and sadly blame culture is making this all too easy to point the finger at students. Maybe the Daily Mail should start tackling real news like benefit cuts and the EU referendum, instead of picking on the next generation of workers who are just trying to have some fun while they get an education.