Page 3 | to be astounded at the bbc reporting bias?

LDNmummy · 31/03/2011 13:16

I am pretty certain it was CNN as I had just watched an interview they had had with Cherie Blair and was thinking what a down to earth and lovely person she seemed. Then it came on, with detail as I described, it was so sad, I don't support Israel's oppression of Palestine but it doesn't make this any less tragic. Saying that, it is supected to be a Palestinian who did this, but not proven, so we can only speculate.

I did see it on other news channels as breaking news, can't be specific as to which one's although I think I ITV might have been one. It was during the early afternoon while I am assuming it was breaking news. Maybe by evening less was being said.

LDNmummy · 31/03/2011 13:24

Also, Israeli settlers and the Israeli government do horrific things to Palestinians but it is only a minority that is reported by the big news channels. The rest is leaked out and reported by smaller organisations.

slhilly · 31/03/2011 13:47

I know this is not a competition about who hurts whom the worst. But, LDNmummy, I'm pretty sure that no Israeli settler or soldier has ever cut the head off a three-month old Palestinian baby. That's well beyond horrifying, in my book.

Someone asked about whether it is known who's responsible. Amnesty says not:
www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=19325

LDNmummy · 31/03/2011 14:17

As I said slhilly nothing makes this any less tragic.

And no it is not a competition, which is why I think children being blown to bits (very literally) by shells in Palestine is equally as tragic. Whatever method of murder is used, it is still murder and in a horrific way.

I think people are particularly horrified becuse of the intimacy of the crime, but setting off a bomb from a distance that is going to leave a child lying in the street with limbs blown off and guts hanging outside of the body is equally as bad IMO.

Neither is excusable.

Chil1234 · 31/03/2011 14:24

"but they seem to pick and choose what they are willing to broadcast."

Of course they do. It's called editorial decision-making and it moves with the news. Happens every single day that news editors have to select which is the main story, what are the follow-ups and what is interesting enough to broadcast but only if there's time.. The bulletins don't get longer just because there is are more big news stories about. With the Japanese earthquake and nuclear crisis happening on the one hand, the military action in Libya on the other and plenty of home news surrounding the economy and TUC marches ending in violence in London, it is not surprising if other international bad news drops off the end of the list for whatever reason. If it had been a totally quiet news day the story you mention would have got more coverage.

LDNmummy · 31/03/2011 14:37

"I'm pretty sure that no Israeli settler or soldier has ever cut the head off a three-month old Palestinian baby."

And you really cannot be sure of this. To much stuff happens in war that boggles the mind.

fastedwina · 31/03/2011 14:42

Given the interest and fascination with that conflict, I'm surprised it wasn't covered more though threads have been going on about here for over a week or more. I can understand anger and violence used at the adults but as said to do this up and close to children and babies is awful, as is the killing of any children/innocent civilians by approved military methods. Also there is nothing to say that Israelis haven't snapped and done something like this to Palestinians in conflict - who knows what is being covered up.

Fab123 · 31/03/2011 14:42

Has the OP ever studied Media? GCSE or even A'Level? Basically if it's a slow news day more things that aren't local, for example, get time of day. The only reason the famine in Rwanda was even reported on over here was because it was a Black News Day - in other words, there was nothing better. Shocking but it's true. Unfortunately I fear that even though this is obviously an atrocity, the conflict is old news for days when other "new" things are happening in the world. There was a tsunami/earthquake/hurricane frenzy going on at the same time, I think I am right in saying.

GabbyLoggon · 31/03/2011 14:45

I suppose thats a reasonable summary of TV news. (The Daily Torygraph may be different.)

And the tabloids have their own version of what matters. The FT is said to be bril if you just want the facts. (But not an exciting read.)

The Daily papers are mainly Tory sympathisers. But the Mail and the Torygraph dislike the Coalition.

Want2bSupermum · 31/03/2011 15:59

The FT is brilliant and a much quicker read. Generally speaking you get the facts within the first two paragraphs and then they try to give both sides of the argument. The headlines are also good because they give you a lot of information about the story before you have started to read it.

FT is an exciting read, the weekend edition has had some the most interesting articles. The economist is also very interesting but that takes me far too long to read. I can do the FT during the week in half an hour.

It is sad that so many people today do not read the newspapers. A 30minute newscast is never going to be able to provide nearly enough coverage of what is going on in the world. The only reason I watch the news is for the traffic and weather. Here in my area Fox do a good job in this area. I do laugh at their efforts to cover the news though.

Original poster

splashymcsplash · 31/03/2011 19:34

Fab no I haven't done 'media' gcse but I do understand that the stories featured vary according to other news. This story was however considered worthy of reporting by other channels according to another poster, but not the BBC. Strange, no? Was not even mentioned on news 24.

OP posts:

slhilly · 31/03/2011 19:41

" LDNmummy Thu 31-Mar-11 14:37:46
"I'm pretty sure that no Israeli settler or soldier has ever cut the head off a three-month old Palestinian baby."

And you really cannot be sure of this. To much stuff happens in war that boggles the mind. "

Oh, come on. It's conceivable that Israelis have done this, but there's zero evidence that it's ever happened. There's not a single shred of testimony. There's no documentary or physical evidence. And there's plenty of evidence of settlers and soldiers doing generally horrible things. But not this. And given that this is the kind of crime that is deliberately publicly committed to spread terror, it's even less likely to have taken place but not been heard about.

Want2bSupermum · 31/03/2011 20:12

slhilly - If it had happened I would be surprised if it wasn't reported by the BBC due to their bias.

Here in the US the bombings organized by Palestinians are reported. These are innocent civilians. I had no idea this was happening on such a frequent basis until I moved over here and started reading US newspapers. If you put together the US and European news you start to see a pattern emerge of one side responding to the actions of the other.

LDNmummy · 31/03/2011 20:24

"Oh, come on. It's conceivable that Israelis have done this, but there's zero evidence that it's ever happened. There's not a single shred of testimony. There's no documentary or physical evidence. And there's plenty of evidence of settlers and soldiers doing generally horrible things. But not this. And given that this is the kind of crime that is deliberately publicly committed to spread terror, it's even less likely to have taken place but not been heard about."

slhilly this conflict has been going on since before I was even born, do you really think that in the by gone days before mass communication, some incidents such as this could not have been unreported?

Even now, if people do not want this info getting out, it won't. We cannot possibly know everything that happens in war times, it is impossible to have eye's and ears everywhere.

JammyMummy · 31/03/2011 20:53

I read a report on the murders on the BBC website the day after it happened - it was in the "most read" list. I think it goes without saying everyone on this thread finds it horrific.

Asteria · 31/03/2011 21:12

My stepfather worked out there as a political mediator for years, I don't even begin to understand the intricacies of the situation in and around Gaza - all I do know is that both sides are capable of and have done horrendous things to each other. As an aside, if any of you saw the drama series The Promise that was shown a few weeks ago, my SF told me that it was a startlingly accurate portrayal - especially the stoning of the schoolgirls in Hebron, which is the least of what goes on... The al-jazeerah website is always a good place to look if you want to keep updated on goings on in that area. He was actually helping make progress out there until the Foreign Office pulled the plug on funding for his job....

SF has just finished working with Aid Organisations in Nigeria that are trying to stop people from hacking up their babies as part of some horrendous witchcraft based ritual and is now in Sudan helping with the horrendous refugee problems there. How much have we heard about them?

Want2bSupermum · 31/03/2011 21:47

Sudan is a big mess at the moment. Western media paints a somewhat simplistic desciption of the 'pirate' situation without going into the backstory. It hasn't been easy to find out what the reasoning is behind fishmen turning to robbery on high seas.

Asteria · 31/03/2011 22:39

well that is pretty simple - in a nutshell: the baddies keep blowing up the oil lines, which pollute the water, the fish die and the locals suffer as a consequence. The people who own the oil lines and the ones doing the damage to them don't really care about the environmental impact because it is just a few fishermen in mud huts and they aren't hugely bothered about them.

Funnily enough, as with many of the conflicts in the world today - it's got a lot to do with oil (and if it wasn't oil it would be religion - or perhaps both!)

breadandbutterfly · 31/03/2011 22:51

Sudan and pirates? I thought it was Somalia?

Anyways, of course the BBC is biased - anyone who thinks that an Israeli beheading a Palestinian baby wouldn't make front page news in every country, tsunami or no tsunami, is just bonkers.

Fab123 · 31/03/2011 23:19

Hmmm, I shouldn't comment here and will undoubtedly get shot down in flames... but... you can't really compare a natural disaster killing thousands of bystanders to a conflict that has been going on for over a century in terms of importance. I can understand why the tsunami made front page news as it was sudden and shocking and personally find it a little odd that it's being suggested that just one story in a conflict based mainly on religion should be more prevalent.

Original poster

splashymcsplash · 01/04/2011 00:01

Err fab, nobody is saying that, and you seem to be the only one who is comparing the two. Just that this story should have been covered. The tsunami does not make this story any less horrific.

OP posts:

nailak · 01/04/2011 00:19

for slihilly

Want2bSupermum · 01/04/2011 01:06

B&B - I thought it was just Somalia too but there were reports that I read over here about a year ago (I think it was the washington post but I could be wrong as I have a brain of jelly right now) that some of the 'pirates' were fisherman from Sudan not just Somalia. Sudan makes the news more here compared to Europe. Basically, the fishermen were unable to make a living from fishing as no one has any money to buy the fish since the country has been at war for more than 10 years. The fishermen find it more lucrative to steal from passing ships.

I do wonder if the roles were reversed in Sudan, whereby the Muslims were being ethnically cleansed by Christians, how the news coverage in Europe would differ. Darfur (other side of the country to the red sea) was an awful situation and from reading the news here in the US and Japan it was Colin Powell who pushed for an intervention by the UN. While this was going on there was little in the European media about the situation in Darfur compared to the coverage here.

slhilly · 01/04/2011 09:27

nailak - despite it being awful, nothing in that video begins to compare with cutting the head of a three-month old baby (and it's all shamed confessions by Israeli soldiers, which has no parallel here). Am I really alone in thinking that the specific act of beheading a baby is one of the most horrific things I've ever heard of?

Fab123 · 01/04/2011 12:43

Splash I was responding to bread who is apparently suggesting that.