|
Why things seem quieter in France
The riots and arson attacks continue in France, but we’ve heard less about it because, as Paul Belien writes at the Brussels Journal, “the media have lost interest or are complying with censorship recommendations from their editors who fear that the public would turn to the extreme-right if it receives correct information.” Belien’s comment is backed by a report in the Guardian about a French media boss who told an audience the media has downplayed stories about burning cars in order not to boost a conservative political reaction. The French government also banned all rallies and protests at least through the weekend, which is apparently why I’ve heard nothing more about the counter-Islam demonstration that had been called for the 11th. But here’s a story in the Washington Post that rioters attacked shops and threw garbage cans at police in the city center of Lyon, the third largest city in France. And police put a massive presence out in central Paris after getting reports that the rioters were planning to come into the city.
By the way, have you noticed how inexact news reporting is? In one article yesterday, the reporter, cataloguing the various acts by rioters over the previous 24 hours, said that they had “burned” a church or a school (I forget which). “Burned” could mean lighting a small fire in a building, or burning it to the ground. You see this kind of thing all the time now. Also the news articles rarely give the sources for their information. For example, they will say, “525 cars were burned in France last night,” but they don’t say what is the source of this information and how the information was gathered in the first place. Email entry |