So a bunch of Shia Muslims in the UK re-purposed their annual gathering to protest terrorism directly. With the exception of The Independent and The Daily Mirror no one covered it. I did a Google News search and basically found this to be true. Only after they raised a fuss did anyone bother to talk about it.
This is a serious issue. People claim with a straight face that there is no significant Muslim repudiation of terrorism and then go out of their way not to see it when it happens. The press is very willing to publish statements from prominent people questioning why Muslims donât repudiate violence, but then doesnât lift a finger to address the issue despite its apparent newsworthiness.
This of course leads to further alienation of Muslims, which drives a bigger wedge between the Muslim population and the rest of their countrymen. In France, someone whose home was raided by authorities under overly broad anti-terror measures was told that his disabled mother could go shit in a litterbox by the police who took him away. He was asked if he would fly the French flag as Hollande encouraged people to do. He responded, I think, in a reasonable way: By saying that he could not do that in light of what has been happening. The video is below.
So of course a woman threw her coffee at volleyball playing Muslims, and of courseMuslim kids are getting bullied by teachers at school, and of coursean Uber driver was shot by someone who thought he was Muslim. I realize Iâm citing an American context for a UK story, but thatâs just what Iâve been reading, since I live in the US. Iâm sure the UK has its fair share of stories (minus the shooting).
This was created, brought to you by the latest episode of Homeland, and 24 and the idiotic furor that was âthe Ground Zero Mosque.â But most of all itâs brought to you by a compliant and feckless media.
Yes, all the way down. The media gives you windows into reality, not all of reality. And those windows are shaped by those who own, produce, and appear on TV (or write news articles) - all of who have agendas that are not just âinform the publicâ. They are not objective reflections of reality, but distortions of reality through the ideology of the various people who bring you the news.
I feel especially saddened by this, as Shia Muslims tend to be a minority in most Middle Eastern countries and are often subject to discrimination in Sunni majority countries.
[quote=âMindysan33, post:4, topic:70551, full:trueâ]
News has never been âfair and balancedâ. They always represent some point of view or another.
[/quote]Well, thatâs true for ânewsâ competing aggressively for advertising revenueâŚthey donât deserve to be called ânewsâ though. Theyâre not the fifth estate. Theyâre bite sized bits of horror culled from several billion people and served for maximum titillation. Weâve always had those, but they lost dominance until the 24 hour news channels appeared.
There are things that ARE âfair and balancedâ and deserve to be called news and given the respect that the fifth estate deserves. PBS has been consistently reasonable, and VOX.com has been a very pleasant surprise.
Like I said⌠what we call ânewsâ should NOT be. Humans are perfectly capable of getting together and being responsible with how they deliver information and educating rather than shocking. Theyâre just not the ones that are getting the proper treatment.
Aside from News Hour, Washington Week, and Frontline, what news shows does PBS have these days? I feel weâre way off topic though with the main point being about a British protest.
