One of the headline stories on the BBC News website this morning is:
Reading the BBC article about the violent attack by a gang of "teenagers" on a gay couple who had been holding hands, I guessed that something might have been missing from the BBC's account.
Googling around revealed what that missing element was, with the Telegraph quoting one of the victims of the homophobic attack saying:
And then suddenly there was a group of six to eight Moroccan youths. Before I knew it I was on the ground fighting with three men on top of me.
The BBC's previous article about the attack (four days ago), Dutch men hold hands to protest against homophobia, was similarly reticent about the apparent background of the alleged attackers, merely referring to them as "a group of men".
Given that the Telegraph report and the first BBC report were published around the same time, it's evident that the BBC chose not to report the remarks of the victim about the youths being "Moroccan".
It's the same old story.
Could it be an example of the "bias against understanding" that a certain BBC editor was so concerned about recently?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind but if the crime had been committed by Cristian white supremacists it would be the main headline across the globe - it's a strange double standards world we live in!
ReplyDeleteSykes Rule in effect.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I sympathise with their feelings (though not with their actions). I really do not like seeing gays holding hands in public places. It looks unnatural - and is.
ReplyDeleteReally Anonymous? Personally I couldn't care less about other peoples sexuality.
DeleteWell said Terry.
DeleteSykes Rule in effect on Marr's show as well. The suspect was from a "diverse area" of town. Quick shot of well-covered Muslim women walking down the block. A diverse group of 'Muslim-majority' countries, then. If it's an approved thought to say Trump's ban is on 'Muslim-majority countries', it should be okay to say it here as well. Depends on the agenda, I guess.
ReplyDeleteSee my comments elsewhere, the story about the EDL march kinda proves my point seems ok to mention race etc etc when it's the other way round. And yet nobody got hurt it's worth noting.
ReplyDeleteWe need some publically identifiable phrases to highlight and call out these type of biases. The Wikipedia article on cognitive bias is going to be too confusing for most people. What is Sykes Rule? I googled it and couldn't find anything?
ReplyDelete