I wonder how long that graphic header will be used on this Herald article It's wrong on so many levels.

They've been driving me wild this weekend (not in a good way) with their treatment of the sad, sad story about the Kahui twins. (*ranting sadly behind the fold*)
The NZ news sucks recently; far, far too many rapes and kidnappings and dead babies.

The twins story doesn't need anything added to it to make it worse, but the Herald is doing it's best to set the scene with descriptions of the families' houses:

Here .. is another, older Housing New Zealand House. It too is painted pale blue, but it has the solid wooden weatherboards of the '60s, a big, grassy section, a teddy bear on the windowsill of a child's bedroom, and a hopeful planting of white arum lilies against the fence.

It's only when you walk around the back that you see the broken window, the kid's yellow bike against the wall, the used disposable nappies spilling out of black plastic rubbish sacks on the ground against the house.

The washing on the line hangs sodden and forlorn, much of it on the ground. Chris's mother is ill in hospital, the rest of the family are at the Manurewa Marae, where the tangi for the twins is well in progress.

and then in another article

Outside their Mangere home, dirty nappies are strewn on the back lawn, towels hang from the washing line and a large recycling bin is full of empty Steinlager bottles and KGB cans.

I don't know what their obsession with washing on the line is, and I'm overfocussing because the whole story makes me terribly sad, but the Herald seems to be trying overly hard to paint squalor in wet laundry and bust-open rubbish sacks.

There's no subtlety needed here at all, Herald. Keep your tabloid-trash writing away from this story because it sucks without you having to tell us so.

PS: the otter is on Rangitoto now.