The Scheming Power of Pisa.

Take good note of the face above â it belongs to Nick Pisa, professional journalist; one of that breed of trained fact gatherers and disseminators of trustworthy information essential to society â without such valued souls, we should be reduced to getting all our information from mere bloggers, and that would never do would it?
Last night, young Nick filed a story as Italian âexpertâ fact gatherer on behalf of the Daily Mail. He was covering the Meredith Kercher story for the Daily Mail.
In a lengthy article published at 8.50pm Nick gave us a first hand account of the scene as âAmanda Knox looked stunnedâ as she dramatically lost her prison appeal against her murder conviction. He was on the scene to witness this you seeâ¦.he detailed how âshe sank into her chair sobbing uncontrollably while her family and friends hugged each other in tearsâ.
How can any mere blogger compete with such an emotive personally witnessed account?
He even had useful on the spot quotes to pad out this distressing scene, as Prosecutors said âit was sad two young people would be spending years in jailâ.
He witnessed and recorded Knox and her co-defendant Sollecito âtaken out of court and escorted by prison guards [â¦] into a waiting van which took her back to her cell at Capanne jailâ.
He stood in the crowd outside and heard as âMrâ Bongionrno, Sollecitoâs defence lawyer, was abused by shouts of âshame on youâ.
Presumably these were cries of âshame on youâ for appearing in the Italian Supreme Court in drag, for âMrâ Bongiornmo looks remarkably like a woman in all the photographs available of him/her â and âherâ Father seems to be under the impression that he has a daughter, rather than a son.
The trouble is, as any blogger worth his/her salt will tell you today, that the entire account was incorrect.
If Pisa witnessed Amanda looking stunned, or sinking into her chair âsobbing uncontrollablyâ, it was because she had been found not guilty â nor could the Prosecutors have made any such statement regarding her spending âyears in jailâ following the court hearing â he had either made the entire thing up, or was employing an earlier quote from the original trial out of context.
Amanda Knox was freed last night, not taken back to spend years in her cell in Capanne jail!
It is scarcely the first time that the Daily Mail has been guilty of outright lies, nor is it the first time that Nick Pisa has been the man on the spot recording the âtruthâ in all its gloryâ¦
Indeed, he must be an expert in the goings on at the Perugia court, so much so that he can perhaps sit at home and file stories without bothering to witness the scene â here is a selection of his previous stories.
âCompulsive Liar Foxy Knoxy Now insists she wasnât at House of Horrorsâ âLesbian Sex Plea to Knoxyâ
âFoxy Knoxy plays the field from her jail cell with new romanceâ
âRevealed: Foxy Knoxyâs sisters posing happily for âmacabreâ photos at the house where Meredith diedâ
âHayden banned from seeing sex monster Knoxâ
I am particularly fond of Pisaâs âVaticanâs fury as EU court bans crucifixesâ which managed to turn the European Court of Human Rights into an EU institution â against all informed opinion in Europe, something which seems to have eluded our man on the spot.
Does it matter if journalists make up âon the spotâ descriptions of scenes which never occurred, and record quotes which they could not possibly have heard at the time and place stated?
It certainly mattered where Johann Hari was concerned, is there any reason for the Daily Mail not to hold a similar inquiry into Nick Pisaâs reportage?
Journalists have great power to influence our beliefs and actions, surely time this power of Pisaâs was leant on?
October 4, 2011 at 19:18
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Maybe he was âquoted out of contextâ, to be followed by âI mis-spokeâ, to
be followed by âEveryone makes mistakesâ to be followed by âI apologise for
any offence I inadvertently causedâ to be followed by âI wish to spend more
time with my familyââ¦â¦. oh sorry, thatâs what the Daily Mail makes everyone
else do not what it makes itâs own do. Dur!
October 4, 2011 at 18:33
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Is there any truth in the rumour that she agreed to attend the next
Bunga-Bunga party in exchange for her release?
October 4, 2011 at 13:52
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Pisa needs a holiday, like Hari, another fantasist.
IngSoc redefinition: journalist = fiction writer?
October 4, 2011 at 11:13
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October 4, 2011 at 10:08
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Great headline indeed. But I am puzzled. Where was this report filed. Even
I was up to date with the result because the whole fiasco kept interrupting
the usual news and sports channel that I listen to. Presumably it would have
made Sky News positivily orgamsic with joy. So how can anyone file the wrong
result?
As to the case itself, I can express no view, other than that I did
hear an interview on Simon Mayoâs afternoon show (happy memories) with a
journalist who seemed a sensible chap and was pointing out that the Italian
police have a shocking record for putting away the wrong person and brushing
over inconvenient matters like the odd serial killer.
October 4, 2011 at 11:47
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You are such a sweetie, you are far too innocent for this world.
As explained in the links, they pre-write two stories, one for each
result, and hari-up some quotes which havenât actually been said but are
more or less certain to be spouted by someone. Or could have been. Or
something.
Then, when the judge found her Guilty (of slander) on the first count,
they quickly released the pre-set Guilty version, failing to appreciate that
the real story was âCleared!â because they didnât listen any further.
It doesnât really matter where anybody is sitting; all that matters is
whose finger is poised over the publish button. Nick Slime appears to have
had a strong preference for a guilty verdict which may have contributed to
him hearing what he wanted to.
Whether he was the one who authorized the publication, I do not know. I
bet somebody is being flogged in the dungeons at the Mail, though.
October 4, 2011 at 11:48
October 4, 2011 at 12:42
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Hi Gildas â would suggest âthe Monster of Florenceâ is a good book to
start with on that theme. They contrive to make the Met look competent!!
October 4, 2011 at 09:09
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He/she seems to be a journalist (sic) that should be employed by the BBC:
up to their highest standards of honest and unbiased reporting.
October 4, 2011 at 08:13
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Thatâs got to be âHeadline of the Yearâ.
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