For a textbook example of 24-carat crap journalism, you wouldn't have to look much further than the item that appeared on the BBC website at 12.41pm on Monday January 23. Under the headline "Is it RIP for DIY?", a presenter named Steph McGovern told us that "over 600 DIY firms are exhibiting at the Interiors UK fair in Birmingham" and posed the question "Are DIY companies still making money?". Having posed the question, she then made no attempt at all to answer it. The entire item consisted of an interview with the md of a company that makes sofas - who said that actually they were doing quite well - and another interview with a Daily Telegraph journalist who said that the worst thing you could do in DIY was bodge a job, and that if you weren't certain of your ability to do a job properly, you would be better advised to get a man in.

And that was it - that was the report that purportedly addressed the question: "Are DIY companies still making money?"

"Is it RIP for DIY?" Well, with moronic journalism like this, who knows? "Over 600 DIY firms"? Really? At the Interiors show? And the only one you could find to interview was a man who makes sofas? A man who then told you that that his business was doing quite well? How does that fit your "RIP for DIY" headline, Ms McGovern?

And what do sofas have to do with the DIY market anyway? Were there really "over 600 DIY firms" exhibiting at Interiors? Here's what the show organisers say: 113 exhibitors in occasional and dining furniture, 108 in furnishing accessories and soft furnishings, 100 in beds and bedding, 76 in lighting, 61 in upholstery, 60 in high end traditional, 53 in high end modern, 40 in cabinets, 23 in flooring, and 11 in other categories. Can you find "over 600 DIY firms" in that lot? We can't.

Furthermore, the report from the Interiors show was linked to one other item on the BBC website - a new story from last month. And the headline on that one? "Kingfisher says warm weather boosted B&Q sales". Well, that certainly supports the view that the DIY market's in trouble, doesn't it? The market leader is doing better than expected, so that can only mean that DIY is going down the pan.

How on earth did rubbish like this make it on air, and then onto the BBC website?