I was minding my own business earlier (as I do), when I came across an ITV Views video on the World Wide Web.
I’ve been REALLY busy of late, trying to make the world a better place (of course) and so haven’t been abreast of things as I like to be.
However, there was something about this YouTube video, which was telling me to watch it – so I did…
It’s a 3-minute clip from ITV1 News London broadcast yesterday, covering the death of Mark Duggan – who was recently shot by police in London, and some blame the start of the recent riots throughout England on – see my ‘Broken Britain’ blog.
Anyway, neither I or many others (I’m guessing) where there when Mark was killed, so I naturally can’t comment – as I like to deal in ‘facts’. But, I didn’t realise ITV News was?
Its coverage of the funeral yesterday, was frankly a disgrace.
I remember thinking at the time, when Michael Todd the former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police died, that others should not ‘speak ill of the dead’ about the circumstances surrounding his death although different. It’s tasteless, if nothing else.
Yesterday’s report has to be in my Top 10 Most Bias News category, and reminded me why I don’t watch television news and in particular ITV. You can’t commercialise news?
ITV1 News yesterday, labelled Mark Duggan nearly all the ‘stereotypes’ possible – the only thing it didn’t ‘actually’ say was… ‘if you play with fire, you get burned’.
The bit which got me most was the following…
The reporter (and I use the word loosely) said – ‘His send off followed GANSTER tradition, a glass-carriage drawn by… horses’.
Now, I don’t profess to know ‘everything about anything,’ BUT in 2004 when My Mum died from cancer at the age of 67 she had a glass-carriage which… wait for it… was drawn by horses.
The only difference I could see in the clip was, Mark is black (mixed-race) and had white horses, My Mum is white and had black horses.
ITV1’s news coverage has left me confused, because I’m now trying to work out how I missed it during the 26-years I was fortunate enough to know and love My Mum, that I didn’t realise she was a gangster?
I mean, I’ve now got the image of this elderly lady travelling around Liverpool ‘On The Buses’ (she did love Olive from the namesake television series) with her free bus pass, demanding boiled-sweets off the other elderly passengers. She must have been toothless!
I tried ‘Googling’ gangster traits, but didn’t have much look.
I thought having a glass-carriage and horses (if families can afford them), was a sign of how much those that have passed (in whatever circumstances) where loved and will be missed by those close to them?
Unlike BBC News, who ‘sort of’ have to listen to you because it’s a public organisation and respond with some ‘misunderstanding’ dribble, I doubt very much that ITV News will take seriously any complaints received about its poor news reporting of yesterday. The shareholders wont be impressed.
Anyway, I really should go back to putting my head in the books and decide what biscuits I’d like to eat later.
This has been a ‘View from the Bottom’ where ITV has not so much told us the news, but its views!
Stay safe, Max x
Live Healthy, Laugh Often & Love Yourself!
© Kevin Maxwell Film, Media & Performance 2011 – Published by My Mum.