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When last year’s riots took place we were all left with questions about what they meant. Millions of pounds of damage was done to cities across the country. For four summer nights the rule of law was at breaking point. Five people died and thousands of businesses and homes were lost. Riots: The Aftershock, BBC 2012
Thousands were arrested and their sentences harsh. ibid.
Simmering resentment about police treatment of black people; it was a demonstration in response to Mark Duggan’s death in Tottenham that sparked the riots. ibid.
Burglary: half of all the rioters were charged with this offence. The average prison sentence handed out for that charge was fifteen months. ibid.
More than a hundred people have been injured tonight in serious rioting across central London. BBC News 2011
We’re going to get the dramatic first-hand accounts of those who were there – the police and the rioters. First, the rioters. The Riots: In Their Own Words I: The Rioters BBC 2012
The interviews were undertaken by the Guardian and London School of Economics as part of their Reading the Riots research. ibid. caption
On 6th August last year about 120 people gathered outside Tottenham Police Station in London. They had marched from Broadwater Farm Estate to protest at the shooting by police of local man Mark Duggan. ibid.
‘People started throwing weapons and I knew something was going to take place because I could see by the youths gathering, and that’s when I knew this was war.’ ibid. rioter
‘They stood united together on the front line and was pelting the police, and that was really really nice.’ ibid.
The crowds gathering on the streets were a mix of races. ibid.
Even many rioters would later speak of a party atmosphere and of warring gangs suspending their hostilities. ibid.
Shops would be the prime targets. ibid.
‘Everyone else was doing it.’ ibid. rioter
Some of the strong targeted the weak. ibid.
Some expressed a hatred of the police shocking in its intensity. ibid.
By the end of the rioting five people were dead and nearly 2,000 crimes of arson and criminal damage had been recorded. It had taken four days to gain control in London; the riots outside the capital had lasted two nights. ibid.
‘There’s petrol bombs being thrown, there’s bricks being thrown. They had control.’ The Riots: In Their Own Words II: The Police, BBC 2012
For five days last summer England was looted and burnt. ibid. commentary
The lack of officers dictated police tactics. ibid.
Tottenham High Road becomes an inferno. ibid.
‘People wanted to hurt us really really bad.’ ibid. rozzer
Disorder is now breaking out in twenty-two London boroughs. ibid.
Rioting has now spread to other English cities. ibid.
Tottenham, August 2011: ‘There is intelligence to suggest that Mark Duggan is currently in possession or control of about three firearms and is looking to take possession of a firearm at the scene.’ Lawful Killing: Mark Duggan, rozzers’ briefing, BBC 2016
The police shooting of Mark Duggan in August 2011 triggered the worst riots in modern British history. People died in those riots … There is still no agreement about what actually happened when Duggan was stopped by armed police on that summer’s day. ibid.
The story is wrapped up in secret intelligence … leading to a suspicion that the truth is being hidden. ibid.
‘Something’s not quite right here. So what is the truth?’ ibid. Mark’s brother
Trident: a Metropolitan police unit tasked with tackling gun crime. ibid.
Broadwater Farm Riots in 1985: ‘vicious vicious riots.’ ibid.
‘There are very few angels on Broadwater Farm … but they’re not gangstas.’ ibid. Mark’s brother
News outlets need to be held to account for their coverage of the headline-hitting English riots, a new report has argued.
Media and the Riots: A Call for Action, published on the first anniversary of the Tottenham, north London, riot which took place last August is the first report to examine the impact of the mainstream print and broadcast media’s reporting on the communities most affected.
The report, written by University of Leicester sociologist Dr Leah Bassel, reflects the views of those people who attended the Media and the Riots conference held by the Citizen Journalism Educational Trust and The-Latest.com in November.
The event brought young people and community members from riot-stricken areas face-to-face with reporters and media scholars. The report draws on views expressed by the more than 150 participants at the conference as well as the findings of current reports, journalistic reporting and research.
It recommends holding the media to account, engaging with journalists, communicating with decision-makers, promoting citizen journalism and social media and ensuring wider access to journalism.
Dr Bassel said: ‘It is hard to be balanced when speaking about media coverage of the events of August 2011. We were all exposed to images of burning buildings, masked youths and shattered shop windows that repeatedly flashed across our screens and pages, and shaped the way we understood these events and our communities.
‘There is a lot to say about what the mainstream media did wrong which this report explores in detail including how media coverage was stigmatising, too moralising, overly reliant on official sources in reporting [police shooting victim] Mark Duggan’s death, and may even have incited rioting by disinhibiting looters. What I want to insist on, though, is that when we take a closer look across different media there are opportunities as well as challenges.’
She added: ‘This is not just a report on what went wrong, but also identifies what needs to be done and who needs to do it. Media actors can be held to account and citizen journalists’ stories can be heard more widely. We need to engage better with decision makers. And of course our journalists need to be more representative of society. Let’s break the cycle of unhelpful coverage and let more voices be heard.’