News Shopper, Homophobia & Criticism

Yesterday he posted a great dissection of the, uh, [questionable choice that the News Shopper, the south east London paper, made for its letter of the week](http://853blog.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/news-shopper-rewards-anti-gay-rant-with-a-prize/):

> Yes, that’ll be the one that calls gays “perverted”. That’s worth a prize, isn’t it? I wonder what Webster’s Pen Shop thinks about its products being used to reward such an unpleasant little rant? > > It’s someone else’s opinion, but it’s the News Shopper’s choice to reward that opinion with a prize.

But what makes this even more entertaining is the response of whomever is behind the @newsshopper Twitter account, [as detailed in his latest post](http://853blog.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/news-shopper-sponsor-distances-itself-from-anti-gay-rant/):

Hint: that’s not the way to handle criticism.  

**Update**: I think [this post hits the nail on the head](http://rachelholdsworth.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/news-shopper-rewards-anti-gay-letter-27-8-2010/) about what journos on the News Shopper probably think is going on – and why they’re wrong. Stirring up controversy like this is *not *good journalism.