Thursday 18 June 2015

Late on parade



It's some four hours now since the Daily Mirror posted an article headlined: 
Watford bomb scare: 'Suspicious item' detonated in town centre as 'white man in burka arrested'
Within an hour the Independent and Guardian followed, though with less revealing headlines;
Watford bomb scare: Man arrested as experts explode 'suspicious package'
Man arrested in Watford after bomb squad destroys suspicious package 
Also around three hours ago, the London Evening Standard went with:
Watford bomb scare: 'Burka-clad' man carrying Peppa Pig rucksack held after army blows up 'device'
 Metro came in around two hours ago with:
‘White man in burka arrested’ following bomb scare in Watford
 ...around the same time that Sky News ran the headline:
Man Dressed In Burka Arrested Over Bomb Scare
The ITV News website published this soon after:
Man in niqab, carrying Peppa Pig rucksack, led away in handcuffs after bomb scare
The Daily Mail arrived next with:
'Burka-clad white man' is arrested after police detonate suspect package in Watford town centre
And the Daily Express published the story around an hour ago:
'White man wearing burka' arrested after 'bomb' found in town centre
Despite being the nation's public service broadcaster, the BBC News website hasn't yet reported this story. (Even the regional section for London and the South East on the BBC website doesn't feature it yet.)

This is a pattern we've become well used to with stories like this.

When it does get round to reporting it (as it will eventually), will the BBC take the Guardian and Independent's route and try to downplay the 'burka'/'niqab' element of the story in the interests of social cohesion (if there's no white far-right connection), lest lots of people start saying the burka should be banned perhaps? 

7 comments:

  1. These Muslim jobbies are rather too keen on that feminine side of theirs aren`t they?
    Any excuse to sell lingerie in Riyadhs Victoria Secrets...only men can sell such stuff.
    Any excuse to prance about jewellery shops in Covent Garden coyly dressed as their mums or sisters.
    Got to be a research grant in the Islamic urge to dress as their aunties.
    Maybe they hope on getting sexier stuff from the lines of childrens homes on washday...would account for their prevalence around the back of them anyway.
    Wonder if More Or Less -or Laurie Taylor, let alone Ernie Rae might do us a show on this theory of mine?
    Am holding my breath....now!

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  2. You'd think the BBC would be rushing to report a false flag op or that it was a white man doing it. That's what they usually speculate when it's a Mohammedan committing a violent crime, so why are they suddenly waiting for all the facts to come in before publishing? Is there something they know but nobody else does that they're hiding in order to avoid giving permission for prejudice?

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    1. As Craig agrees below, their commitment to watertight oversight on this is remarkable, even by BBC standards. Is there still no mention (haven't looked)? If so, they may be seeing if it can move to 'never happened' status and can be comfortably moved on from.

      They are of course utterly secure from any inquiry as to why. The 'not news' editorial integrity dismissal is one of their post popular defaults, even when what is covered can err on the facile.

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  3. Why are the BBC so far behind?!?

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  4. Remarkable, isn't it?

    I find it hard to reconcile with the editorial independence and integrity so often trumpeted that a supposedly professional news broadcaster can essentially go into lock down on reporting, rather clearly because they are trying to confront all the propaganda booby traps their own obsessions have constructed.

    Meanwhile what they do rush to publish highlights just how partial they are.

    As of now, the BBC still appears to be behind this curve, perhaps again hoping things will move on and spare them having to confront the issue.

    And, again, this ridiculous stance by all those high paid execs has served only to highlight how ouHall step they are.

    Just as Lord Hall pulls a Patten with a 'back off, or else' threat based on their supposed professional value, too.

    Good timing, Tony.

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  5. Getting on for 24 hours on, and the BBC's failure to report this has achieved 'unique' status.

    The two big papers missing from the other list (other than 'The Sun', which I can't see) - The Times and the Telegraph - also reported it [The Times just after I posted, the Telegraph some time this morning].

    The BBC really does seem to be alone in ignoring this story.

    It's very peculiar, even by the BBC's standards.

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  6. I don’t really understand why the BBC would want to play this down. As I understand it, the perpetrator was not an actual Muslim, only disguised as one.

    In other words, they could have used this story to play the usual Islamophobia / Moslem-as-victim card.

    They missed an obvious trick – I think they’re really slipping!

    Miv Tucker

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