Thank you for that. That makes sense when you think about it.

But listen up guys.... don't feel all neglected!!!

According to the BBC's news diary coverage plans for DSEI there will be a TV Correspondent, a Radio Correspondent, a seperate TV Correspondent for News 24 (lives), a special events producer, a radio producer with sat-link (M4), a TV Video-Producer/VJ, a seperate News-24 producer, 2 x Beta Camera crews, a satellite up-link truck with editing facilities (possibly including a microwave minilink and hoist) and a radio car for the Today programmes coverage in the morning.

Remember, license fee payers.... it's your money paying for all this wonderful technology... so make something happen why dontcha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, by the way.... were this "confidential" information to find its way to SKY or ITN, they'll react by flooding the area with kit and people too....

:)

Don't hate the media -- USE them........

This is interesting , good article and comments, how to get the media’s attention and some positive coverage ?, taking into account how important it is for the masters of the main stream media to have their violent images and what’s more the lengths they will go to get them. This is a subject that requires carefull attention . I hope you’ll be taking this a step or two further.. nice one

Article by Steve Boggan which appears in Monday's Independent:
 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=93220

The Guardian also did a short piece the other day on the raids on the squats:
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4252653,00.html

They even published the Disarm DSEi website address!
Looks like there'll be plenty of coverage come Tuesday.

Seems like a good development. After all how much coverage is 'good' and how much is bad? If the printed press follows suit we'll be rid of stories claiming 'RTS have bunkers full of weapons' and 'police expect protestors to turn up with samurai swords'.

Fuck the media - we have our own.

I think the explanation smacks of censorship! The fact is, DSEi is Europes largest Arms fair and many people do not know that it is happening. To refuse to report it because a protest is planned is, in effect, to prevent people from debating the issues around the Arms Trade.

No doubt if there is any violence tomorrow, there will be wide coverage of that!

And any violence that happens tomorrow will be insignificant when compared to the violence that is perpertrated by arms on a daily basis throughout the world.

CNN:
UK arms fair under fire
September 9, 2001 Posted: 0912 GMT
LONDON, England -- Campaigners have criticised the UK government for inviting two African countries fighting on opposites sides of a war to an arms fair.

 http://europe.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/09/09/uk.arms.fair/index.html


Reuters Report @ Iwon:
London defence exhibition targeted by protestors
Friday September 7, 1:24 PM EDT
LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Anti-capitalist protestors threaten to disrupt one of the world's largest defence-equipment exhibitions, to be held in London next week.

 http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&news_id=reu-l07342456&feed=reu&date=20010907&cat=INDUSTRY

1000's of Anti-Capitalists set to disrupt tomorrows Arms Fair
Posted on Monday, September 10 @ 08:38:45 BST

Thousands of anti-capitalist protestors are preparing to converge on London Docklands tomorrow to disrupt Europe’s largest "defence exhibition", the Defence Systems and Equipment international (DSEi) to be held at Excel Exhibition Centre. Major defence companies that trade in everything from submarines and radars through to missiles and boats will be there. The demonstration entitled ‘Fiesta for Life Against Death’ has been called by Disarm DSEi, with active support from London Reclaim the Streets and the Wombles.

more...

 http://www.surflondon.co.uk/HTML/article.php3?sid=1112

Anti-capitalists turn their sights on arms dealers
By Steve Boggan
10 September 2001
Arms dealers and defence equipment buyers from around the world will face the enemy tomorrow that governments fear the most ­ the anti-capitalism movement.

Groups involved in the mass protests at international summits in Gothenburg and Genoa this year are joining forces to confront the Defence Systems and Equipment international (DSEi) arms fair at the new ExCeL exhibition centre in London Docklands.

The fair, Europe's biggest arms extravaganza, is held every two years and is usually picketed by church and pressure groups such as the Campaign Against the Arms Trade.

This year, campaigners such as Reclaim the Streets and the White Overall Movement Building Libertarian Effective Struggle (the Wombles), which are better known for their anti-capitalist and anti-globalisation objections, are putting their weight behind what they claim will be peaceful protests.

Their aim will be to draw the public's attention to an event at which missiles, heavy weaponry and even ships will be on display and available to buy. Collectively, a group of activists called Disarm DSEi is calling upon protesters to gather for a Fiesta For Life Against Death tomorrow, the first of four days of planned demonstrations.

Richard Bingley, a spokes-man for Campaign Against the Arms Trade, said: "The fair seems to be attracting a lot of attention from the anti-globalisation lobby because it represents something that operates at a global level, is morally reprehensible and largely unaccountable ­ the production and sales of arms."

Activists point to a UN Human Development Report that says governments around the world spent $719bn on arms in 1999. Their Fiesta guide adds: "This is 14 times more than is needed to eradicate the very worst ­ 'absolute' ­ poverty from the world."

Mr Bingley said: "We are concerned about the countries that will be represented there. There are some, like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and China, that have poor human rights records, and others, like Turkey, India and South Africa, that simply can't afford to be buying arms. Recently, South Africa signed a $3.5bn [£2.4bn] arms deal with European countries; that's 100 times more than its HIV treatment budget and 10 times more than its housing budget."

Alan Sharman, of the Defence Manufacturers' Association, said organisers were aware of the increased interest being taken by anti-capitalists. "There is nothing wrong with peaceful protest. If it becomes violent, then that is something for the police to deal with," he said.

"The moral justification for having an arms fair is the same as that used by populations and governments to have armies and navies and air forces; they want to defend themselves. That gives rise to an arms industry and, like any other industry, it wants to display its wares. There isn't anything wrong with that."

Mr Bingley disagreed, arguing that fairs such as DSEi fuelled conflicts. "DSEi indiscriminately promotes weapons sales to all sides of conflicts," he said. "Many of this year's invitees are from countries engaged in open hostilities, on the verge of conflict or in regions of extreme tension. For instance, India and Pakistan, Greece and Turkey. Israeli delegates attend among invitees from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt ... It's hideously absurd that countries which spend most of their time at each others' throats can put aside differences for a week of retail therapy."

Extra policing is understood to have been organised, although the protesters' website (uk.indymedia.org) calls on supporters to behave peacefully to provide contrast with the potential for destruction represented by the fair. Scotland Yard declined to comment on its plans.

The big defence companies such as Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Marconi will be present. At the last fair, there was a mini-scandal when one exhibitor's stand was found to be illegally offering anti-personnel mines.

The reall reason that the media are not covering this protest before it happens is because they know that there would be such public outrage if the general public found out that this country was inviting leaders from the most brutal regimes in the world to buy arms that it would cause a national scandal of such proportions and embarass the government so much. Also they know that tens of thousands of outraged people would descend on the arms fair and suceed in shutting it down. The explanation they have given is complete rubbish.

The corporate media's biggest headline constantly is Asylum seekers and how out of order they are for coming to this peaceful and prosperous magic Kingdom. You can't expect them to ruin the only poisonous one sided headline they can always use without debate, and then report on a demo against an arms trade thats wholly responsible for people seeking asylum.
The arms industry is the state.
The corporate media is a tool of the state.
Forward the revolution.......

For once steelgate, I agree. You managed to sum up my thoughts in an instant. There is alot of interesting and well thought out posts here, but yours just sums it up. The situation Sucks.

Quite long article:

Four held in raid on arms fair demo squat
by Dan Bridgett

Armed police have stormed a squat in a bid to prevent expected violent demonstrations against an arms fair in Docklands tomorrow.

snip

Amnesty International and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade have condemned the decision to invite countries with poor human rights records such as Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Sri Lanka.

But police fear that the protests could be hijacked by militant anticapitalist groups that wrought havoc at international summits in Genoa and Gothenburg this year.

more...

 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/top_story.html?in_review_id=455777&in_review_text_id=406857

That sounds about right from the BBC - but it smacks of a bullshit cover story......

Before any major football ( 'soccer' - yankies! ) tournament - we have to endure days of 'British fervour' and 'Nationalistic pride' from the likes of the Daily Star and Sun telling our 'boy's' to 'do it for England' etc with old throwback War pictures and memories - and then they gleefully fill their papers with English Thugs running amok chucking bottles and knifing each other....... 'BBC doesn't want to be seen as encouraging or advertising trouble' - Sorry British Bullshit Corporation - that's bullshit!

Police fear violence at arms fair

Steven Morris and Richard Norton-Taylor
Monday September 10, 2001
The Guardian

Protesters say 'fiesta for life against death' will be peaceful.

more...

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/armstrade/story/0,10674,549416,00.html

So will the day ever come when we see headlines like:

VIOLENT CAPITALISTS ORGANISE ARMS FAIR!

Not while the corporate media holds a near monoply on the means of communication. They seem have no problem twisting things around without any sense of shame.

I think that Steelgate's comment is a bit unfair. Someone asked me why the BBC weren't previewing it and I tried my best to find out from senior people.

The answer I put was the answer I got. So that's what I told you.

The problem is that people like that seem to think that the mainstream media is a homogeneous unit that blindly follows orders from a hotline linked to number 10 or some mystical submarine owned by the Bilderburg group parked near Atlantis. It's all very easy to see things in black and whiet like that -- but you are mugging yourselves.

It just isn't like that. If you think I am an "agent of the state" because of where I work you are tripping, mate.

News (as opposed to current affairs) is event driven. That the British economy was militarised under Thatcher and relys on tax breaks and Export Credit Guarantees to remain viable isn't "an event," just the same as inner city deprivation isn't "an event" -- these are long, drawn out processes.

Now, I think we SHOULD report this sort of thing, but I ain't Greg Dyke.

But the real problem with people who post some of this stuff is the "fuck the media -- we have our own" type attitude.

Indymedia is a brilliant idea and it will get bigger and better and will probably end up in the role of a news agency as bureaux are cutback everywhere (and maybe it will even updated more than once a week!!) but at the moment I say to you that you DO need the media... not to get in their good books and have coverage for the sake of it, but to use them as a tool to reach the ordinary people who are NOT activists, do NOT log on to Indymedia or even think about going to Genoa or Washington etc. but who DO need to be informed.

These are called "ordinary people" and they do ordinary jobs that some activists probably despise: they are shop assistants and accountants and office workers and computer analysts and workers and managers in a million small companies no-one ever heard of -- and they have mortgages and bills to pay, and they worry about that -- not Rainforests or war in Central Africa or the WTO or any of the rest of it.

Now some of you might say "fuck the ordinary commuter scum" but that is a very un-democratic and elitist attitude. If people really want to change things they are going to have to become more of a mass movement, which can articualte ideas that non-activist can understand and begin to support.

You need to get the support of the confused, misinformed Daily Express reader... and I am sorry, but Mr. Fucking Mortgage doesn't go to Stawberry Fields or susbscribe to SchNews or order Undercuirrents Videos online.

So how do you reach such people... by using (I mean USING not being used by) the mass media.

Or maybe some people in the activist world don't want to involve "ordinary people," maybe their revolution is so fucking special, so esoteric, that ordinary people would cramp their style... is that it?

"No!! Fuck off!! It's OUR revolution, not yours, go away... we are special... we understand the issues... everyone else is a stupid corporate stooge, a sheep-like ignorant capitalist lackey...."

Is that it? Is this Indymedia site your little cyber gang hut with "Keep out" stuck on it's virtual door.

Because if so this movement is going nowhere fast.

Come on now!!

It makes you laugh, doesn't it? The BBC has stated that it won't cover news because it could incite opposition. Hey, it's like living in the Soviet Union!

Does that mean the media will stop spouting race-hate crap against refugees and Muslims because this also incites violence and sometimes murder? I doubt it. Refugees are powerless rats to shoot at if they try crawling down our big, expensive Chunnel.

But these anti-capitalist thugs - well, they might stop us from flooding Africa with small arms, and that would be bad for trade. And we all know how important trade is. As Jack the 'Mad' Straw 'Hat' said in the Guardian today, trade is good for the poor (at least those who are still alive).

At this juncture and after a drop of lager, may I suggest something?

Those campaigning against the arms trade should not campaign peacefully outside these arms fairs. They should destroy the arms fairs and frighten the living shit out of these bastards who buy arms and perpetrate war and genocide. They should smash the place up and flatten it if need be. Have a good fucking riot. Then they should go to the Labour party conference and cause as much havoc as possible.

There is no excuse for the arms trade, there is no need for war and there is certainly no justification for the despicable Western-backed genocides in Africa. The Labour government might not actively support those who commit genocide, but it has supported the arms trade, even if Brown dropped some export credit guarantees to certain dictators who aren't currently in fashion.

The government should pay for the war crimes committed by the UK's arms trade. And the price is wrecking their arms trade and destroying the talking shop that is the Labour party conference.

A few points:
1)'Thanks for that' was the first response to the post from db, which seems to me about right. Someone at the beeb has bothered to enquire about an issue raised here and come back with the answer. The tentacles reach out. Challenge its validity yes, less the mud slinging.
2)The biggest mistake people can make is when they attempt to squeeze an inherently complex world into the palm of their hands. To make it simple for ourselves we 'make our minds up,' convinced we know the truth. If we start with statements like the arms trade is the state and the corporate media are the tools of the state, we will always come up short. The world is simply not that black and white. The 'corporate media' is plainly not homogenous.
3)The media should be used and we should attempt to use it, but there seems to me something unhealthy about screaming 'why aren't you looking at me.' Command attention by deed and word not by scratching the legs of those who may grant it to you. By this we could appear to be trying to stage 'media events,' whose life depends upon coverage. They do not. Only as such do they deserve coverage.
4)note to db- don't make straw men for the joy of burning them. Although your caricature does have some resonance, you to are attacking what MAYBE the attitude of only a minority of those who posted here.

Since I have a Hotmail account myself, when I tried to email the author of this article I got instant feedback that says Microsoft says " darisu2001@hotmail.com" doesn't exist. FYI

Having contacted disarm@husmail.... we got no response, none whatsoever.

Ignoring the media will result in the media ignoring you surely?

Maybe our publication wasnt big enough- however when smaller publications run a story, bigger ones follow- we know from personal experiance if we run a story, the likes of thisislondon follow shortly thereafter.

We told them most of our readers were journalists, we also explained that we would be sensitive to the protestors aims- however it fell on deaf ears as we recieved no response.

PLEASE do NOT ignore the small independent press- it does you no favours :/

Sure we could have phoned up- however limited resources means phonecalls are not really feasible if at all avoidable. As it stands we ran a story without input from Disarm DSEi which is a shame.

 darius2001@hitmail.cum doesn't work either

Just a quick comment.
Arms Trade sucks, I agree. British Bullshit Corporation, I agree (although mainly at boardroom level but not exclusively).
I agree we must stop these twisted fucks that sell bombs, guns and death, ultimately. Smashing the conference to pieces would, I agree, give great satisfaction but, really, at this stage in the movement, it would be rather foolish to say the least. It'll just give the cops justification for repression of our movement and our ideas.
Debate is vital and sites like indymedia keep it alive. It is the only way we will ever make any progress. Genoa proved to all that were there that we are still growing and maturing and learning continuously. I suppose debate is the only way that we can keep check on ourselves and make sure we are taking the movement forward in the most democratic and inclusive way we possibly can. Washington next, then Quatar I believe. Lets eat the rich!

That high level editors at the BBC take a collective decision not to 'up the ante' ahead of racist parades may be justifiable. Their argument is clearly that it runs the risk of stoking inter-communal violence. But the only 'risk' they run by mentioning a political demonstration is that they may alert people to it and thereby encourage larger numbers of people to attend.

Two points - the very existence of the DSEI should have been a story in itself, but no-one at the BBC had the guts to tackle it. Secondly you can be damn sure that the BBC would not stick to these principles if the police were briefing against the demonstration, they would once again trot out all the MayDay rubbish about violence blah samurai swords blah blah.

The BBC did do one story ahead of the event prompted by the raids on the squats on Friday, but it was a pathetic response to an event (DSEI) which only takes place every two years. Look out for the regularly sympathetic stories about the latest wacky inventions from the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). There was even one last week by Sue Nelson about how research into poisons at Porton Down was being used in plastic surgery!

There are some decent journalists at the BBC but they are a minority and they're usually subject to the whims of editors - who are paid large sums of money and share the attitudes of other people who are paid big salaries.

That high level editors at the BBC take a collective decision not to 'up the ante' ahead of racist parades may be justifiable. Their argument is clearly that it runs the risk of stoking inter-communal violence. But the only 'risk' they run by mentioning a political demonstration is that they may alert people to it and thereby encourage larger numbers of people to attend.

Two points - the very existence of the DSEI should have been a story in itself, but no-one at the BBC had the guts to tackle it. Secondly you can be damn sure that the BBC would not stick to these principles if the police were briefing against the demonstration, they would once again trot out all the MayDay rubbish about violence blah samurai swords blah blah.

The BBC did do one story ahead of the event prompted by the raids on the squats on Friday, but it was a pathetic response to an event (DSEI) which only takes place every two years. Look out for the regularly sympathetic stories about the latest wacky inventions from the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA). There was even one last week by Sue Nelson about how research into poisons at Porton Down was being used in plastic surgery!

There are some decent journalists at the BBC but they are a minority and they're usually subject to the whims of editors - who are paid large sums of money and share the attitudes of other people who are paid big salaries.

If anyone wanted to e-amil me, as someone said they did.... my real e-mail address is  darius2001@hotmail.com

The mis-spelling was just because I was typing fast.

cheers,

db