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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cynic
02.12.2004 11:15
d-pressed
you clearly don't understand what the word 'cynic' means
02.12.2004 12:31
Are you seriously suggesting that the news should aspire to keep people ignorant and politically/socially UNconscious?
Real cynics refuse to swallow the lies of the rich and powerful. Truly cynical journalists train their cynicism on those in power, not those who read/watch the news.
What's wrong with people being genuinely informed, apart from the obvious problems it causes pro-war right whingers like yourself?
Not half as cynical as the media
post- modem
02.12.2004 13:46
Alternative media outlets are mainly on the internet and often excellent: in terms of content and analysis...but the point surely is: do we want to live in a world where our understanding of what is going on in the world is entirely conditioned by the popular press: print or broadcast?
d-pressed
look, nit-picker
02.12.2004 17:13
d-lock
IMC is Just the Place!
02.12.2004 20:11
Sure support the demo, I think this it is certainly very important to back words with action. However, I also believe that discussion is equally valuable.
Indymedia is just the place to discuss the role of the media and the message being fed to the people.
PhillC
imc is just the place ...
03.12.2004 10:09
you want to talk about things that are verbotten ...
..like zionisms close relationship with nazism ...
..like 911 and the 'conspiracies' around it ...
..like any number of ... things your find in the 'hidden' section (go to view all posts in the editorial guidelines)
jackslucid
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