Student stabbed to death by black youths after he asked them to stop throwing chestnuts at him; BBC declines to mention suspects’ race

On September 7, Julian C. in New Zealand wrote:

An appalling story from the UK. The Daily Mail mentions the race of the attackers, while the appalling Guardian calls for witnesses but doesn’t mention the race of the “youths” involved. Here’s the Daily Mail article:

An aspiring architect was stabbed to death by a teenage gang after he asked them to stop throwing conkers [chestnuts] at him.

Steven Grisales, 21, was due to start a course this month as part of a Westminster College scholarship.

He was walking to a station in Edmonton, north London, when he was attacked.

Youths threw conkers at Mr Grisales and when he stood up to them, one produced a knife.

He was stabbed in the chest in the attack on Wednesday evening and died the following day.

Steven had moved from London to Argentina to live with his father, but came back to London in July this year to start the three-year architecture course.

Two 15-year old boys are being questioned by police in connection with the murder.

A 19-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl have already been arrested and released on bail …

Detectives believe up to three young black males, possibly in their late teens or early 20s, attacked Mr Grisales.

Julian C. continued:

Unsurprisingly the BBC report has followed the approach of the Guardian:

“Detectives believe he was set upon by up to three young males, possibly in their late teens or early 20s.”

In contrast the tabloid Sun provides more specific information:

“Detectives believe up to three black males, possibly in their late teens or early 20s, attacked Steven.”

I’ve made a complaint on the BBC site asking why they have omitted information describing the alleged attackers that could assist the police with their investigation. I’ll let you know if I get a response.

Now Julian C. sends an update

On the topic of media treatment of ethnicity when reporting crime, I have had a response to my complaint to the BBC. I complained about the omission of the ethnicity of the people who attacked an Argentinian student (after earlier throwing conkers at him). I wrote:

I’m baffled as to why you mention the police request for witnesses, but then omit some of the relevant information concerning the alleged attackers. I have read on other news sites that “”Detectives believe up to three black males, possibly in their late teens or early 20s, attacked Steven.” Why is the BBC omitting this information that could help with identification? Can you clarify this?

The BBC have replied:

Many thanks for your mail.

We would tend to avoid references to ethnicity in descriptions unless it could genuinely be seen to assist in the identification of a suspect. In this instance the descripiton was extremely vague and adding in a reference to ethnicity would have served no purpose.

Thank you for getting in touch with the web team.

With best wishes,

Laura Ellis, BBC English Regions Head of New Media

I have responded that the police included the reference to ethnicity in their description of the suspects, so it still strikes me as irresponsible reporting.

LA replies:

Ha, unbelievable.

But of course not unbelievable at all, but the standard media mentality, particularly BBC who are Commie-like in their devotion to a false and wicked ideology. Suppose a criminal suspect had been described by victims and witnesses as having brown hair. Would the BBC decline to publish that information, because it was too vague and would serve no purpose?

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Mark A. writes:

My response to the BBC would be: If this is the case, why reference the age and sex of the attackers? If the description of the attackers is “vague,” how did the BBC know they were young? Or male? Couldn’t they have been middle aged, athletic lesbians with short haircuts? The BBC should be ashamed of their inflammatory descriptions, which will likely lead to violent reprisals against young boys all across the U.K.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at September 17, 2011 10:23 AM | Send