Yesterday, Daily Mail Australia used a photo of UK grime rappers, MOBO Award winners and Drake associates Section Boyz in an article about gang violence on the streets of Melbourne.
This was an important article, sure. But the photo was not of the Apex Gang. It was a blurred out photo of Section Boyz which had originally been published back in October 2016. ABC’s Media Watch picked it up:
Hey @DailyMailAU – your APEX gang pic is actually a UK rap band. Which we also we told you about last November. #mediawatch pic.twitter.com/SElOW8NU2s
— Media Watch (@ABCmediawatch) January 31, 2017
It’s a pretty scary time right now for the world at large, and journalistic integrity is more crucial than ever. Not that the Daily Mail are exactly known or even expected to be at the cutting edge of leading investigative journalism or anything like that, but this is just unbelievably fucking stupid and irresponsible reporting.
The Daily Mail have not been available for comment, but they did eventually remove the image from their article.
Section Boyz also responded with their own tweet, slamming the publication for slander:
@DailyMailAU we are not happy with the way you have used our popular picture to slander another group that has nothing to do with us. FIX UP
— SECTiON BOYZ (@SectionBoyz_) January 31, 2017
In related news, Section Boyz appeared on stage this week with Drake, who is currently performing eight (yes, eight) shows at London’s O2 Arena. Check out the footage below:
Fuck the Daily Mail.
Image: Twitter