In a sign of growing sophistication, anti-war activists are taking their battle to the doors of the BBC. In what they describe as ‘A Call For Light’, a broad coalition of activist groups have organised a vigil outside the BBC’s Bush House in Aldwych, London at 5.30pm on December 2nd. Their aim is to publicise what they describe as biased and unbalanced coverage by the national broadcaster.
In its short life, ‘A Call For Light’ has certainly attracted some high profile support. The film director, Ken Loach, commends the organisers for highlighting “the distortion of language by the media” and their protest has also been endorsed by the Stop the War Coalition, Naomi Klein, Harold Pinter, and the journalist, John Pilger. The event even has the backing of two Iraqi groups: the Union of Unemployed and Iraqi Democrats Against the Occupation.
“The turning point for me was Fallujah,” says organiser Antony Wright, ‘every day friends and colleagues would email me reports from the Red Cross and journalists actually in Fallujah - then I would turn on the BBC news and be astonished. The reports of gas, napalm, trapped civilians, young teenagers targeted as combatants and the utter destruction were absent.”
The evening’s event may be a sign of things to come, as protest groups increasingly question the role of media. The question is, now that the BBC is becoming part of the story will viewers have to turn to SKY or ITV to find out about it?
“The turning point for me was Fallujah,” says organiser Antony Wright, ‘every day friends and colleagues would email me reports from the Red Cross and journalists actually in Fallujah - then I would turn on the BBC news and be astonished. The reports of gas, napalm, trapped civilians, young teenagers targeted as combatants and the utter destruction were absent.”
The evening’s event may be a sign of things to come, as protest groups increasingly question the role of media. The question is, now that the BBC is becoming part of the story will viewers have to turn to SKY or ITV to find out about it?
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