The media have once again jumped all over themselves to attack protesters and violence. As ever they miss the point and refuse to understand the reasons behind political violence.

Another mass demonstration in London and once again the headlines are filled with stories of Anarchy in the UK. At least half a million people, from all walks of life, took to the streets on Saturday to register their disgust at the brutal and savage cuts being forced upon the British population by the ConDem Coalition.

But this in itself shouldn’t come as a surprise and in reality is understandable. Given the choice between pictures of Ed Miliband speaking from Hyde Park and the smashed up windows of luxury shops, it’s no contest. On going battles between police and masked clad protesters certainly makes for a compelling story.

The real failure of the media is not to portray the violence; it is their refusal to understand it. The large majority of the media painted angry young demonstrators as mindless vandals and criminals with a thirst for violence. The language I heard from the likes of Sky News and the BBC was at best sensationalist at worse biased. Even murder suspects aren’t afforded such impartiality.

One Sky News anchor referred to protesters as ‘criminals who have nothing to do with the real message hijacking a peaceful protest’. Sadly this is a narrative repeated across the media, as well in the Police force and even in some sections of the trade unions.

But was this really mindless vandalism? Whatever one thinks about the political tactic used by those who attacked businesses it is impossible to not understand the symbolism. Particular shops were attacked for particular reasons. Vodafone and Top Shop are accused of dodging taxes at a time when we are in desperate need of their contribution.

As for Fortnum and Mason and the Ritz, these are clearly symbols of the million and billionaire elite that are riding scot-free whilst the poor are made to suffer. The Tories like to repeat the false notion that we are all in this together. A few broken windows are nothing compared to having your welfare slashed or education allowance removed.

This is what the mainstream media fails to report. This is where they let down their audience and deceive their viewers. True, violence might not be the answer to the spending cuts but to divorce the violence from the politics is a dastardly tactic of the media.

What’s more this painting of protestors as having a thirst for blood is plain wrong. At one point outside Fortnum and Mason I saw around 10 police officers grossly out numbered by protestors, most of whom looked particularly angry. But given that at that moment the police posed no immediate threat there was no attempt to attack the clearly scared officers. They danced around for a few minutes, celebrated their victory and moved on!

On the other hand the real violence always comes from the boys in blue. I was in Trafalgar Square until around 9pm. The atmosphere was jovial, people were dancing, singing, rapping and generally having fun. No major crime. But as I returned home I saw the horrific violence that was taking place.

Speaking to those who were there the police had suddenly and with great force moved into the square to rid it of the people. So where does the real violence come from? And why does the media refrain from reporting this? Once again I saw Sky News telling the story of glass bottles being thrown at police. Not once did they mention the casualties amongst the protestors or the swinging police truncheons.

I did not take part in any violent actions on Saturday. I don’t think it really helps the cause but I understand and sympathise with the anger behind it. The mass media in Britain does not. This is their failure and this exposes the inherent bias within our press. For every action there is a thought process behind it. After all what’s a few smashed windows compared to a series of cuts that will decimate the futures of a whole generation?