To agree with this Guardian article about the London attack?

[Medeci]

And I NEVER agree with the Guardian
ISIS must be thrilled with all the dramatic media coverage.

It points out that there was an instant assumtion that the attack was terrorist related without any evidence.

ISIS have called for exactly this type of attack. There have been multiple attacks of exactly this type in the past committed by Islamic extremists. The attackers personal presentation was in a style strongly associated with Islam. Witnesses very clearly said the car attack was deliberate and as he jumped out and stabbed a policeman it obviously wasn't a heart attack or accident. That is not 'no evidence'. It might not be forensics but it's pretty strong evidence all the same.

Any rational person could put these combined indicators together and make a reasonable assumption that it was overwhelmingly likely attack was Islamic extremism. The only people who wouldn't come to that conclusion are those who don't want to.

I see what you're saying vegansnake but unfortunately with the proliferation of members of the public recording, photographing, blogging, tweeting etc the information would still be out there and it would be full of speculation and rumour and still be subject to manipulation depending on the opinion of the person who published it.

I think it's too late to even contemplate suppressing names, photos etc because of the social media age we live in.

BillSykesDog,
I've spent a lot of time in germany over the last 9 years and I can say that I don't really recognise your description of Germany at all! I spend a lot of time in Upper Franconia, where a lot of refugees have been sent I've never felt threatened or had any issues and nor have my family.

I don't agree. I think it's good that they are thinking about how to solve this stuff. It would be weird and worrying if this was treated as an irrelevance.

Really can't agree with this article op. This was very likely a lone extremist/terrorist who may not be directly linked to IS but to deny his motivations is imo foolish.

As for the lack of comment on the funeral of Martin McGuinness I have no words really. IRA terrorist done good...yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the Rhinedahlen car bomb it is very likely he played instrumental role in this. The IRA later released a statement owning this bomb, it was pure luck there were no deaths.

Two years later a soldier and his 6mth old baby were shot dead at a petrol station. Clearly I have quite a few words but none of them will be remembering this man with any respect.

Most people in the uk are very lucky that they will never be personally touched by an act of terrorism. I grew up is military community in Germany living with what was a relentless turmoil carry off a resilient stiff upper lip with the impossibility of feeling safe or being able to relax.

Snoopy, but why then do celebrities play away from home,and a judge bans anyone from reporting it,I never hear who it is,why couldn't a judge ban reporting on any possible terrorist attack..I know people have a right to know what's going on,but it's fuelling other attacks

Those of us of a certain age will remember that Gerry Adams' voice was never allowed to be broadcast during the IRA bombing campaign. Because it was believed that he should not be allowed to attempt to justify the IRA's acts of terror.

Bahahaha. And look how well that turned out. Just goes to show that attempting to suppress this sort of thing rarely suceeds.

I don't know why people think news blackouts 'wouldn't encourage them' either. I think it would encourage them hugely to think that the UK government was so scared it was censoring the news and misleading it's own citizens.

It wouldn't prevent fear either. There would be witnesses. News would leak out. There would be rumours. But rather than relatively accurate reporting, it would be a game of Chinese whispers with each telling making things sound worse and nobody any the wiser about the truth. Rather than keeping people calm it's more likely there would be rumours spreading of much more terrible incidents like the spreading of radioactive waste or polonium poisonings or similar and people would believe it if they thought they were being kept in the dark.

Idefix I wasn't criticizing the lack of coverage I was just saying it's double standards to give one terrorist not much coverage but another an excessive amount

That's true bills dog,I didn't think of that

What about if they just banned the name and info / photo of the terrorist? Would that be possible/ would that help

The problem is with the media being almost bloodthirsty it's disgusting. It's extremely sad that those people lost their lives but that does not give the press good reason to give wall to wall coverage of these events which can be summed up in 5 minutes.

Agree totally....terribly sad for those involved but its almost as if some people enjoy the tut tutting and silly non stories which are attached to this.

Read this with increasing incredulity till I read bills comment- thank goodness for that and the following ones- article is a load of bollocks!!

vegan the difference is that a footballer shagging a model behind his wife's back isn't a crime. Mowing pedestrians down and stabbing a police officer to death is a crime and is of interest to wider society. I don't see how you can even compare the two.

The police have used the media to ask witnesses to send in their pictures and videos because they are evidence of a crime the same way they put up notice boards and put requests in local newspapers after a fatal car crash.

I want to know what has been going on, from all the various points of view, and that's the same with various topics in the news whether it's health or money or international relations.

We don't need disapproval and an almost parental finger-wagging to dissuade our fragile minds from seeing journalism we dislike. Views we may disagree with will still be there whether they are reported or not, and engaging with debate and seeing all angles is best IMO.

I think it's unreasonable to insist we must assume any attacker is a lone madman unless otherwise shown. Some are, but equally others do have links and associates. And if a type of unusual crime has been perpetrated by someone with particular affiliations in the past, people will obviously consider the possibility that further similar actions may be connected to a similar source. Scotland Yard were very quickly saying they were looking to see if was connected to others. Should they have ignored that possibility?

I was comparing as in trying to think if the reporting could be banned..but it clearly can't,and I can see would lead to worse speculation

Furthermore who would be applying for the injunction to keep the perpetrators details out of the press? The terrorist's family? What about the details of serial killers or serial rapists? Should they be kept out of the press as well because there are sick individuals out there who want to emulate the Yorkshire Ripper?

Engineer maybe it depends on where in Germany you live? Whilst not terrorist activity the mass sexual assaults that occurred in some city centres (including the city I live in) appeared to be down played by the authorities and the media. I think because of social media footage they were forced to treat it more seriously and not brush it under the carpet. It was widely reported by the people there that those participating in these attacks were of arabic, North African origin.

Every time an attack like the recent axe attack in the train station in Düsseldorf occur I think there generally a pregnant pause before they describe the attacker. It does feel like we should not see this terrorist/extremist influenced activity but the acts of people with mental health problems.

Yes. First time I've ever agreed with Simon Jenkins.

I don't know what the answer is ,.i just think they might think twice if they knew they weren't going to get 5 minutes of fame for their crimes..

I work a very short walk away from where the attack took place. Granted, I was OOO that day, but tbh if I hadn't heard about it in the news I wouldn't have realised anything happened - the only visible sign has been circling police helicopters.

It would be impossible, and counter effective, to censor the news but I wish the BBC, as a public service broadcaster, would just report the facts and not over-dramatise events. Intrusive interviews with shocked grieving people don't help the situation either.

engineers

Axe attack at Düsseldorf station on the 10th of March.

metro.co.uk/2017/03/10/seven-injured-in-random-axe-attack-at-train-station-in-germany-6500259/

Official police report is that it is 'a man from former Yugoslavia' (a country which doesn't exist anymore) with 'psychological problems'. It's actually a Muslim asylum seeker from Kosovo and the 'former Yugoslavia' comment is supposed to cover that up.

Munich train knife and axe attack May 2016, assailant shouted 'Allu Akbar':

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-36265183

Sent to a psychiatric hospital and Islamic extremism links denied.

Ali Sonboly and the July 2016 shopping mall massacre, same.

Also the Cologne assaults on NY 2016 were denied. All touched on in this HuffPo article.

m.huffpost.com/us/entry/11206154

The only people who wouldn't come to that conclusion are those who don't want to

Yes this is the added complication here isn't it - I don't think re IRA there were any doubting it was them, or fear of calling it what it was.

This article is spot on. I am sure the media knows it too. All they want is as many people clicking on their news per day as possible so they sell everything that sells. That includes all the awful images of the tragedy alongside May getting bundled away from it all. does the job for ISIS perfectly.

Sorry worm if I misunderstood. My boarding house was a few meters from where that bomb exploded and I will never forget the fear that lurked in the corners of my mind as a constant background emotion.

For me I find the suggestion of denying/downplaying this wrong, as others have said regardless of what the press does, this story would be out there on every social media outlet.