Ambiguous headline?

[abstibus]

Reporters from Newsnight launched a probe into allegations about inappropriate behaviour by the Jim'll Fix It legend towards schoolgirls just days after his death on October 29.

MOS online

[factor-fiction]

Have you got a link please? Thanks

[boxtops]

what's the ambiguous headline then? This story isn't new, people were talking about it on here when he died.

[micmak]

http://www.dailymail....th--program-axed.html

[boxtops]

thanks micmak - so what's ambiguous? it's clear to me - claims made - investigated - programme pulled (inappropriate timing?).

[abstibus]

If you read the headline properly, you'll see that the ambiguity is that these supposed incidents could be interpreted as happening after his death.

[factor-fiction]

I don't agree, annemollie.
Many sentences fall into this category but the sense is nearly always clear.

[boxtops]

No it doesn't - it says the investigation began after his death.

[abstibus]

From OED:
Ambiguity: admitting more than one interpretation, or explanation; of double meaning, or of several possible meanings; equivocal (the commonest use).

This makes it clear
Just days after his death on October 29 reporters from Newsnight launched a probe into allegations about inappropriate behaviour towards schoolgirls by the Jim'll Fix It legend

[bundleone]

Why on earth do people wait for 30 odd years to report these things, I don't believe it.

[ojread2]

It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest

[boxtops]

This isn't new news though, people aren't coming forward - this is what was written in a tribute in the Telegraph after his death - he's been the subject of rumour for years:

"Savile always claimed that the key to his success on Jim’ll Fix It was that he actually disliked children, although in later years he maintained that he had offered this explanation to allay any untoward suspicions that he liked them too much. Rumours of under-age sex circulated for some years, although the fact that no allegations of impropriety ever appeared in print seemed to confirm Savile’s own insistence that he had “no past, no nothing”.

"But he was always careful to guard against the possibilities of any misunderstandings, and the predatory intentions of parents or the press. When children knocked on his door for autographs, he would refuse to open it, instead passing the signed photographs and scraps of paper back through the letter box. In later years he even refused to have a computer in his home, explaining that he did not want anybody thinking he was downloading child pornography."

[grasscarp]

Not very good journalism on the part of the Mail as they couldnt even spell Savile correctly.

[jomifl]

If by the 'jim'll fix it legend' you mean Jimmy Savil(l)e' then why not say his name, he can't sue you , he is dead. By the way did you know that the 'blockbusters legend' has just died.

[askyourgran]

Why have they waited so long to come out of the woodwork, his 'love-child' appeared a few weeks after he died as well. Just a bit too late to make the accusations to his face (like 30 years), but hey, lets besmirch his reputation anyway. There are some really sad people about.

[shaneystar2]

Poor chap is hardly cold and they dig the dirt .Typical gutter journalism ....Unmarried man who lived with his Mum .They just jump to conclusions .
They'll do anything to sell newspapers these days .

[abstibus]

I totally agree that he should be left to rest in peace - he did a lot of good in his life. My point was that the MoS headline was sloppy and careless.