The suspect bomb in London.... but this comment really annoyed me. It feels vaguely racist and yet I am not sure it is..

[BreeVanDerCamp]

All options, including the Irish, are open at this stage," said the source.

er, yes, counttoten. if the bbc quotes a source that is exactly what they said. that's what a quote is. otherwise it's paraphrasing and if the jounralist had been paraphrasing they would not have used the phrase 'the irish'.

if you're asking the bbc to rewrite what people say before they report it that's a whole new ball game and it isn't journalism. whose rules would you have apply? those who think 'the irish' is offensive or those who think it isn't?

Sorry but there is a difference between freedom of speech and responsible journalism. Do you think they would have done word for word quoting if they source had said moslems or arabs? There are other words that could have been used or they could have left that specific part of the quote out.

Just because something happens commonly doesn't make it more acceptable.

People get mugged all the time. Maybe they should just put up with it because the person who did it to them is feeling angry and hurt.

None of these terms are acceptable. So why is DC post of 8.44 still available.

Not necessary Bree, not necessary at all .

Honestly Desi, you would of had to experience growing up in that environment to understand why it touches such a raw nerve.
It's been many years since I've seen the Irish spoken about with such hatred and it's not something I thought I'd see on MN. Let alone many people to think it's ok to do so.
Some may say I'm sensitive, I just felt the whole tone of his post was vile. He has his reasons for feeling like that and I have mine for feeling the way I do.

btw Love you more

Dammit! I don't know why I got so offended all those times people called me racist terms because I am Hispanic! I should have been more understanding. They were probably just in pain.

DC is a small minded cretin, I ignore him, so should you.

Bree! Who is this directed at?

Bree !

Bree, you have undermined yourself there completely. Obviously, you're trying to drive home your point and provoke a reaction but it's a shame you can't see fit to handle it more eloquently than that.

i take your point hatwoman but bbc journalists are trained you know. there are strict guidelines to follow when writing scripts or copy and everything is checked.

why assume the journalist was lazy happydaddy? I can see no evidence of that. it's a fairly basic piece of copy taking in several interviews. what's lazy about it?

perhaps the reporter thought the views of the source shouldn't be sanitised but should go down word for word because it's important the rest of us know that there are people in 'intelligence' who think like this.

it's the view that is expressed that is outrageous not that it was reported, surely?!

and just because someone complained and the copy changed doesn't automatically mean the two are linked. the story would be updated pretty regularly in the normal course of events.

Bree, are you drunk?

Au contraire Happy Daddy. I am not being racist, I am illustrating that if you replaced the Irish in DC's post with any of those outlandish statements I made people would be up in arms. But are sure feck it, it is the Irish and they are laid back and can take it, and maybe they as a nation deserve it .

I am the one who is

I am stone cold sober.

K, I see it was for shock value.

And yes, it did work.

Bree, I see your point BUT there's no need to use those terms, EVER. In my book.

For what it's worth, I'm as disgusted by the anti-Irish comments as any others.

Calmy Bree....don't stoop to his level.

Binkle and flip

I am getting angrier by the minute. I may have just undermined my argument but if I reposted DC's post with any of the horrible terms I have just used it would have disappered in nano seconds.

if the source had said 'the islamists' or 'the muslims' or 'the arabs' yes, it would have been reported. and if they'd used a worse or offensive term it would certainly have been reported and become a story in itself!

We get it Bree, but it appears you're only winding yourself up and that's counter productive