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Our Racist Press

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09:26 / 09.10.06

So, appalled by the silence surrounding this news piece posted in the Rage thread (here) and disturbed by watching Children of Men I've been thinking about the bias of the press. Here in the UK there's several papers that routinely splash racist stories over the front page and stir up fear of immigrants and Islam etc, and it's just taken for granted. The fact that a record bomb haul terrorist bust finding rocket launchers and NBC suits goes reported only by the Pendle times, a local paper, makes me wonder how biased the press is. If the men had been muslim instead of BNP certain papers would be clamouring for the death sentence by now and baying for new draconian laws. Veiled Menace Threatens Britain!
Is it something we just have to tolerate or do we have a duty to oppose powerful organisations spreading hate? Am I paranoid for thinking it's getting worse rather than better? I'm all for freedom of speech but sometime the headlines make me sick and want to kill Murdoch and the rest of 'em, I'm sure I don't need to provide examples.

So, is it as bad or worse in the US? How about other countries? Is it getting worse? What can we do about it? Should we do anything about it? Why does white terrorism go unreported?

All Acting Regiment

09:52 / 09.10.06

Is it something we just have to tolerate or do we have a duty to oppose powerful organisations spreading hate?

No, we don't have to tolerate it, we do have to oppose it. We could start to do this, I would think, by looking at who buys these papers and why. I like to think that their audience aren't actually active racists, more people who haven't had a proper education/rich experience of life who want an easy read with a sudoku and some light porn, and who see the Guardian et al as restrictive, snobbish, etc.

So we need to flood that part of the market with a better alternative. Not an easy task.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

10:03 / 09.10.06

But this story wasn't in the Grauniad either. It isn't anywhere except fucking Pendle Today and a couple of other local rags. Dale Winton rumored to be playing Jack in this year's Christmas Panto, local man calls son after entire local football team, Nazi dentist tries to blow you all to kingdom come, Mayor to open new branch of Sainsbury's.

There is something very, very wrong here.

All Acting Regiment

10:05 / 09.10.06

Oh, absolutely, and the Guardian can be a shitter of it's own sometimes.

All Acting Regiment

10:37 / 09.10.06

Coming back to this, one of the things that constantly grates on me is how these sodding papers turn every juxtaposition of cultures into a fucking crisis. It seems to be their default line that everyone is trying to fuck over everyone else, meaning YOU, all the time, so you should be ready to fuck them over before...it's just such a fucking balls world-view.

08:51 / 10.10.06

An earlier story of the arrest says C****** wasn't a terrorist, which seems odd, as the current presumption of the law in terrorism cases is guilty until proven innocent, isn't it? Mind you, it is probably the one case where Tony might be right in saying that terrorists hate us because of our way of life.

10:07 / 10.10.06

has everybody emailed the news sourcs they think should have covered the story to tell them they are dismayed they havent?
i think the more people email their source of choice to make them aware that they are not happy with the coverage it has recieved the better.

i'll be telling channel four and the BBC that it doesnt appear in their site search, for example.

i feel it could make a difference to do so, and i will take the opportunity to ask directly whether they think it represents the racism of the british public and a desire among british news sources to pander to such a sentiment.

10:23 / 10.10.06

That's a good point, I think the Grauniad could be shamed into doing a feature. I love the way the police say he's not a terrorist and it's not a bomb factory, presumably the rocket launchers and NBC suit are just the kind we all have lying around the living room. Doesn't quite tally with the 'record haul' byline a few days later.

10:34 / 10.10.06

the more sources and the more people who ask, the more likely it is that anything will get done.
not just the 'lefty' papers, but the rest of the media too.

Hydra vs Leviathan

11:51 / 10.10.06

Some discussion here about possible state suppression of the news about this getting into the "mainstream" press...

Kiltartan Cross

13:51 / 10.10.06

It does seem remarkable that this hasn't been more widely reported. Any idea in what sense this is supposed to be a "record haul"?

14:17 / 10.10.06

"The 22 chemical components recovered by police are believed to be the largest haul ever found at a house in this country" (Pendle Today)

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

14:26 / 10.10.06

Yes, if you do a Google search for "R***** C******" it's all over the net- but it's all blogs. NOT newspapers. Unless there's some legal barrier to reporting this (and that seems unlikely) this is fairly fucking disgusting.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

14:40 / 10.10.06

Anyone think there's any mileage in emailing the papers, or the Nelson & Colne MP?

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

14:55 / 10.10.06

Also some good discussion on this at Lenin's Tomb.

14:59 / 10.10.06

The Pendle MP is Gordon Prentice (Labour). BARBELITHEMAILPATROLGO!
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/gordon_prentice/pendle

16:04 / 10.10.06

the third story down on a google news search for bnp+terrorist.

the topic under discussion only rates hit one and four of the top ten.

Kiltartan Cross

17:49 / 10.10.06

"The 22 chemical components recovered by police are believed to be the largest haul ever found at a house in this country" (Pendle Today)

Mmm, but by quantity by weight/volume of chemicals or quantity of types of chemicals, that's what I'm wondering. I was under the impression that there'd been some very large amounts found previously, and that the "record" being claimed was the record for "lots and lots of different stuff".

What most worries me is that a search on the BBC site for "Robert Cottage" gets nothing at all. Not even in local news. That's disgraceful.

18:59 / 10.10.06

Now AsiansInMedia are the top hit, making a total; of TWO sites reporting this.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

12:07 / 11.10.06

I am still not seeing this in the national press.

I know we have journalists posting on Barbelith. I am looking at you guys to chip in with some inside info that would help explain why this isn't being picked up. It is not an accusing glare, it is an encouraging and quizzical glance, and comes accompanied with a slight nod of the head as if to say "come on, chaps, don't be shy!"

Are we missing something? Are there criteria that this story (featuring as it does rocket launchers, home-made explosives and a Nazi dentist, and therefore being only an improbable car-chase away from a summer blockbuster) does not meet, and (for example), "Lost cat puts pause on house sale" does?

12:17 / 11.10.06

I have just had a reply from my MP's assistant telling me that he's going to investigate why this story has not been covered in the national press. He sounded quite interested actually and apparently hadn't heard anything about it.

I have also emailed The Sun and The Guardian but I doubt either of them will reply to me.

It says on the board that Natty linked to that one of the reasons for the lack of coverage may be a media blackout as a result of a 'D Notice,' which is basically an official request not to publish something for reasons of national security. But on what basis this would happen in this case, I have no idea.

12:23 / 11.10.06

We could start to do this, I would think, by looking at who buys these papers and why. I like to think that their audience aren't actually active racists, more people who haven't had a proper education/rich experience of life ...

Might be leading offtopic but I'm interested in this question. Did you see the relatively recent research funded by jrct: The BNP: the roots of its appeal? [Link goes to a list of jrct publications, scroll down to links for full report and summary (pdfs).]

12:23 / 11.10.06

I read the thread before I read the piece, and admit to being at a loss to as to why this hasn't been more widely reported.

Then I read the piece. Apologies if I'm getting technical on anyone's ass, but the situation here seems to be that the two men have only appeared in a preliminary Magistrates Court hearing, according to this report, and have been immediately sent to the Crown Court, for their first appearance on October 23, as it's just too big a case for the Mags bench to deal with.

The *problem* is that preliminary appearances at Mags court such as this are subject to stringent controls about what is reported; to wit, the names and addresses of the defendants, any charges put to them, date and time of next hearing - just basic stuff like that.

The real juice of this case will come at Crown Court later this month, and that might be when the nationals are anticipating picking this up. I would be very surprised if the red-tops haven't already assembled a huge amount of background stuff, bought up acquaintences of the pair, got all the photos in the bag.

In my professional opinion, this newspaper has put a little too much detail in their piece, and could find that they are actually in contempt of court by reporting so much extraneous information that wasn't said at the actual court hearing. I wouldn't be surprised if there were solicitor's letters flying, and the Judge who is hearing the case might even throw it out or move it to another district on the strength of this report - when someone is charged with an offence and has yet to lay a plea it is *very* dodgy to talk about the police raiding their house - that implies guilt, do you see, and as this is going before a jury, any jurors who read this piece could think "Hmm, but the police raided his house and found a load of bombs - he must be guilty. Why listen to the evidence?"
So most other newspapers will probably be dealing with the matter more circumspectly until the case is heard proper.

That's my guess, anyway.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:48 / 11.10.06

It says on the board that Natty linked to that one of the reasons for the lack of coverage may be a media blackout as a result of a 'D Notice,' which is basically an official request not to publish something for reasons of national security. But on what basis this would happen in this case, I have no idea.

I kind of suspected that; also what Sax said. But further searching has turned up that it did make it into the Sunday Times, though only in the News In Brief section, which kind of implies they ARE allowed to cover it.

12:53 / 11.10.06

A D Notice wouldn't be put on something like this; I'm not sure that a D Notice can be placed on judicial proceedings. As I said earlier, coverage is allowed, just not much.

12:58 / 11.10.06

Also, to put "our racist press" into some kind of perspective, here are some recent headlines from The Sun, courtesy of their online archive:

'Brit' BNP wine is foreign
RACIST British National Party faces ridicule for flogging foreign wine

Male sex porn of BNP boss
A BRITISH National Party councillor faces ridicule for his gay porn film

Keighley kicks out BNP
BRITISH National Party loses seat in by-election caused by resignation

Fury as BNP pair walk free
OUTRAGE as BNP leader and activist are cleared of inciting racial hatred

BNP chief's Muslim slur
RACIST BNP boss branded Asians rapists and muggers, court hears

BNP bomb leaflet storm
FAR-RIGHT party attacked for using bombed bus photos in election flier

Muslims print BNP rag
BNP newspaper printed by ARAB firm because no British firm will touch it

BNP chiefs arrested
TOP officials in the British Nationalist Party arrested in racism probe

Anger at Le Nutter visit
FRENCH far-right leader Le Pen gives his support to BNP election campaign

BNP visit 'despicable'
FAR right group to visit area where murdered teen was abducted

And so on. Might not make up for the perceived Islamophobia of the nationals, but perhaps should be considered with view to a balanced argument.

13:50 / 11.10.06

Just as a brief aside, I really hate seeing D Notices invoked to explain media silence. It's the conspiracy theory impulse wrapped up in official jargon, and, like most conspiracy theory gumpf, the D Notice should only be dredged up - with utmost caution - when all other possibilities have been exhausted. In my very humble opinion.

'Course there isn't a bloody D Notice on this story.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

13:53 / 11.10.06

Sax- do you think the papers would still be behaving like this if it had been a Muslim? Genuine question.

14:03 / 11.10.06

Genuine answer: Probably not. I do hope the story will be covered properly at the end of the month. But I do fear that the reporting restrictions might have been less strictly followed if the court case had regarded two Muslims.

Sells papers, don't it.

14:08 / 11.10.06

There's also, I suppose, the practical question to be covered. This took place at a rural Lancashire backwater court. The nationals certainly wouldn't cover this sort of thing as a matter of course at this stage; they wouldn't even know about it. That would be the job of a local news agency to sit through the case and flog it to the national newsdesks. Place like Colne, I don't even think there would be an agency covering that patch, certainly not the Mags Court, unless they'd been tipped off.

By the time it had hit the Pendle News and then been distributed around the net, the case is old. There's something called Absolute Privelege which covers reporting of court cases. This means that say, for example, Stoatie appears in court and one of the main planks of the prosecution case is that he reads Geoffrey Archer novels. This, of course, is libel of the highest order, and if someone said that on the street no-one would ever report it for fear Stoatie would sue them, or just beat them up. But if it's said in court, it is okay to report PROVIDING three simple rules are followed:

The report is FAIR, ie gives equal balance to the defence and the prosecution (not necessarily on the same day in the same report)

It's ACCURATE, in that the person really did tell the court that Stoatie reads Geoffrey Archer novels.

And, crucially to the point I'm making, it's CONTEMPORANEOUS, which means it is published in the NEXT AVAILABLE edition of this newspaper.

You don't fulfil all those categories, you lose your privelege against actions from the defendant.

14:11 / 11.10.06

And I meant Jeffrey Archer, of course. Geoffrey Archer is a fine writer of plausible thrillers. Not a Tory twat. As far as I know.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

14:12 / 11.10.06

Sells papers, don't it.

I'm guessing there's a kind of balancing act- do you think a paper would be more likely to lay itself open to punishment for a bigger story? Kind of "we'll get in shit for this one, but it'll be worth it?"

14:16 / 11.10.06

Highly likely. Especially if it's a celeb story. I'm trying to think of a parallel, and I'm sure here in Bradford we've had a case involving three Muslim men arrested on terror charges that's still at Mags Court stage, and I don't think it's been picked up much by the nationals. I'll have to check.

It will be interesting to see how the case is covered after October 23 when they have their first Crown Court appearances.

19:00 / 11.10.06

Really great to get your perspective, Sax.

(you fucking hack)

Less searchable M0rd4nt

10:49 / 12.10.06

Thanks for that, Sax, it's much appreciated.

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