Post by vandamme on Aug 8, 2009 11:29:54 GMT
Suicide bombers foiled in Melbourne. BBC carefully avoids mentioning their religion
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…with its coverage of Neil Lewington, the failed neo-Nazi terrorist who rather unwisely started an argument on a train while carrying home-made bombs:
I know Lewington was at conviction stage, but recent arrests in Durham were also reported on Radio 4 as “police arresting suspected white supremicists”.
That is accurate reporting – journalists covering a terrorist act should explain the group’s motivation, be it a united Ireland or the Fourth Reich, without fear of upsetting the people the terrorists claim to speak for.
But the BBC seems to have an official policy of not mentioning the words “Islam” or “Muslim” in the context of terrorists clearly motivated by religious allegiance. Is this just the usual metropolitan white liberal cowardice about addressing uncomfortable issues, or a genuine belief that “suicide bombers”, the closest it can come to saying “Islamist”, are not motivated by theology but by some secular force?
Instead, BBC hacks use weasel words to indicate to the readers that these are indeed Muslim terrorists, doing nothing for “community relations” but further increasing the public’s cynicism about the corporation.[/size]
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Compare and contrast the [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8182654.stm
]BBC’s report of arrests in Australia
]BBC’s report of arrests in Australia
Australian police have arrested four people in the city of Melbourne after uncovering what they say was a plot to launch a suicide attack.
The group was planning to carry out the attack on an army base, police said.
More than 400 officers were involved in searching 19 properties across the city before dawn on Tuesday.
The suspects are Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese descent; one man, aged 25, has been charged with conspiring to plan a terrorist act.
…with its coverage of Neil Lewington, the failed neo-Nazi terrorist who rather unwisely started an argument on a train while carrying home-made bombs:
A white supremacist has been convicted at the Old Bailey of having explosives with intent to endanger life and preparing for acts of terrorism.
I know Lewington was at conviction stage, but recent arrests in Durham were also reported on Radio 4 as “police arresting suspected white supremicists”.
That is accurate reporting – journalists covering a terrorist act should explain the group’s motivation, be it a united Ireland or the Fourth Reich, without fear of upsetting the people the terrorists claim to speak for.
But the BBC seems to have an official policy of not mentioning the words “Islam” or “Muslim” in the context of terrorists clearly motivated by religious allegiance. Is this just the usual metropolitan white liberal cowardice about addressing uncomfortable issues, or a genuine belief that “suicide bombers”, the closest it can come to saying “Islamist”, are not motivated by theology but by some secular force?
Instead, BBC hacks use weasel words to indicate to the readers that these are indeed Muslim terrorists, doing nothing for “community relations” but further increasing the public’s cynicism about the corporation.[/size]
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