That fucking tree

[FlirtsWithRhinos]

Anyone else pissed off that UK media and public seem more aghast about a 16 year old boy killing a tree than a 17 year old boy killing a girl?

On BBC Scotland on the national UK news?

It's an awful, awful story - the violence that women suffer at the hands of men is never-ending. You're right, there are no words.

OP, posts like yours are the sort of thing that turn people off feminism. It would make people accuse you of looking to be offended, and turning everything into a feminist issue.

There has been a lot of coverage of the Croydon murder, and yes, I agree, I’ve probably seen an equal amount of coverage of the tree.

But sadly, murders seem to be part of every day life. Did you know a man was murdered in Leicester earlier this week? No, I don’t suppose you did. It wouldn’t have made the national news. The taking of another life, whatever the context or sex of the victim/perpetrator, is an abomination, but there are simply too many of them to report them all at the expense of other news.

The other thing that makes the tree more “newsworthy” is the utter and inexplicable pointlessness of it. Not motivated by anger, or greed, or desire for revenge. Literally no possible explanation. And that’s what makes it baffling and therefore newsworthy.

People can feel badly about all sorts of differnt things. It does not have to be one or the other.

News programmes determine the lead stories of the day - and people react accordingly.

the Tree'story' was not the opener on any of the mainstream national news programmes - the killing of the girl in Croydon was.

I'm sorry I can't follow that. The reporting is because she's black not because she's a woman. Her death has had more publicity than young black males. Aren't they black as well?

Op feels there's not enough reporting, which if it's the case, is becuase she's black not because she's a woman. If she were black and male, there'd be even less.

They’re both news items. No one is more aghast about the chopping down of a tree. It’s the senseless vandalism that makes me sad. The killing of the poor young girl defending her friend is horrific. But trying to compare the two to score points is crazy.

The news channels are allowed to report on more than one subject in case any was wondering.
There is no comparison between a girl being stabbed and an iconic 200 year old tree being felled but people are allowed to discuss both events and be upset/angry/heartbroken about both.
It's not a competition

It looks like angry, disaffected young men were responsible for both crimes - if you can't see that they are both symptoms of the same disease then that is on you.
The coverage of Ellianne's murder has absolutely outstripped that of 'that fabulous tree' but both are news worthy so both are being reported. It is incredibly rare for the news to have only one story, I can only think of the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and the deaths of Princess Diana and the late Queen as events that have totally dominated the news cycle.

Are you one of THOSE parents??
DS vandalises a historic nature site:
-it's just a fucking tree!
DS stabs someone:
-dunno how that happened...

What actually concerns and outrages me more than the stabbings within minority communities of North London (it's time for those communities to have a fucking "word" with their teens)...
The fact that some idiot tore down my front garden wall in the night. It had stood there for 120 years, through World wars... I only wish that harsh punishments would root these fuckers out or root their fucking hands out. But instead of (ever) witnessing the punishment, I have a sanctimonious OP telling me I'm somehow in the wrong.

You're the problem with our excusit/apologist/ lawless society OP!

I don't think the two should be compared.
The tree has been reported on in our national newspapers here in Australia because it is a landmark known worldwide. We have not seen anything about the tragic stabbing, we have enough men killing women here to be reported on.

And this thread has no place on the Feminism board. A way to mess up a good cause...

A black male teen was also murdered in South London yesterday but the media have chosen to focus on the pretty black privately educated female.

There’s room in the world for more than one terrible story. I can find space in my brain to be both saddened by the needless death of a teen and also saddened by the criminal destruction of nature. Both are important. It’s not one or the other.

She was 15, not a woman.

The reporting had nothing to do with the fact her parents paid school fees.

I agree that ALL are acts of male violence. Of course a person (any person) matters more than a tree. And yes, violence against women is so frequent that its almost considered 'background noise'. It's critical now.

Because men kill women all the time, but, unless they work in Forestry, they rarely cut down trees?

But i guess, the truth is the news works on novelty. The news is not a grading system for the world’s wrongs. People are interested in rare and unusual stories, and the media will always make room for these. The Tree story hits that spot. It’s got lots of human interest because of all the significant life events people have held at the tree, it’s been in film and advertising. And it’s such an odd and unforeseen thing to have done. It’s in the news because it’s interesting. And it’s also a slightly lighter story as most of us think ‘that’s sad, what an odd thing to do’. But it’s not upsetting in the way the murdered girl is. So you know, it provides a mix in the news.

I think the case of Elianne has (rightly) had a lot of coverage.

I believe her case has been covered more widely than Holly Newton's (not that any of this should be a competition), as I was not aware of that tragedy until this thread.

I would say the coverage of Elianne has been extensive, albeit i live in the SE.

Shame the arrested 17 yr old can't be named.

This might be a geographical thing. I live fairly near Croydon (my son gets the same bus to school going the other way) and it's literally all I heard anyone talking about yesterday. I went shopping in my sleepy commuter town south of Croydon in Surrey yesterday (not very diverse place) and in 3 shops I went into I overheard strangers talking about it and how awful and heartbreaking it was, also in a coffee shop I stopped in, multiple tables were saying how sad they were and RIP. All women though, I have to say.

I personally think this is a male violence issue, not a race issue. And central Croydon itself has been left to rot into a lawless wasteland by mostly white, mostly male politicians and corrupt property developers which I think is an indirect cause of the knife crime it now suffers so terribly from. Poor, poor girl and her family.

I have had trouble finding that story.

I saw a story about a 13-year-old boy (13!!!) who was stabbed in south London on the same day as Elianne Andam but fortunately it looks as though he will recover:

Police and paramedics rushed to the scene and the youngster was taken to hospital with stab wounds. His injuries are said to be non life-threatening and non life-changing, and the Met Police confirmed the incident is being investigated.

Was there another South London incident?

I think both are terrible but in different ways. The tree is wanton and clearly premeditated destruction of an ancient natural landmark. It was important to a lot of people (I'd never heard of it). So naturally it's newsworthy. It's one of those head scratching news items where you think why on earth would someone even think of cutting down a tree?

The girl's death was unspeakably horrible and falls into the category of 'innocent victim going about her day peacefully'. Can't begin to think how her family will ever come to terms with this.

With respect to the fact that hundreds of murders are committed every year - yes, each life lost is equally awful to the parents, friends and family of the murdered person.

When there is a gang related stabbing I am sad for the family and the wasted life of the young person, but as a fairly regular occurrence in the news it no longer surprises me. Drugs, gangs, county lines and knife and weapon carrying goes hand in hand with stabbings. The tolerance for gangs and drugs in this country needs to change

Geographically in the middle of these two stories.

Lots more coverage of the murder in Croydon..

Both significant news events and worthy of coverage. This thread is simply making a problem where there isn't one.

People are not more important than nature. Actually the other way round. No nature no humans. That's how it works. And here we are vandalising the very things that keeps us all alive.
We have become worse than savages, even savages knew to respect nature.
We destroy it for profit as fast as we destroy each other, every new news story makes me feel I don't want to live for much longer.

That was my first thought too. The common denominator in all of these crimes is men.