Legends from a small country: Haunted by white ghosts! The curse of Dipokong:
As in any good sensationalist publication, this one is littered with the dark deeds of aliens - but as in illegal immigrants, rather than Elvis abductors. However, it is only a small step across the border into the land of urban legends, ghosts and other nomads of the paranormal. But don't they just know how to milk the legends that cross their desks!
The Daily Sun will become a regular visitor to this blog. But meanwhile, my all-time favourite from its pages combines racial fears with supernatural fears, and of course adds plenty exclamation marks and capital letters. It was the front page headline story on 19 March 2008, and is the story of the houses that were:
HAUNTED BY WHITE GHOSTS!
Read Arthur's blog for the full story.
When we drive to church in Mamelodi on Sunday mornings, all the lamposts in Tsamaya Avenue are festooned with posters for the Sunday papers, each trying to be more sensational than thou. They've got a bit tamer since Brenda Fassie died, though she was mentioned in the posters regularly for at least a year after her death.
I don't remember whether it was the Sun or not, but my favourite placard of all time was "Zombie ate my soap!"
1 comment:
That gave me an interesting glimpse into a different culture. Not just because of the content, but the fact that they put posters on lamposts advertizing these papers.
The newspaper market in the U.S. is drying up, by all accounts. Maybe they'll turn to sensationalism as a last gasp. Hmmmm....
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