Brunel University journalism professor Sarah Niblock, a conference speaker, said: ‘There was too much emphasis (in the riots news coverage) on law and order and an authoritarian stance, driven by too much reliance on official sources [there is a strong section in the report about this] and the binary notions of good versus bad and us versus them.’
John Pilger has been quoted as saying at the Rebellious Media conference last year that the language used in the news coverage of the riots by some newspapers and broadcasters was akin to ‘war reporting’, with the rioters and looters treated as the enemy.
In its introduction, the report says: ‘Conference participants were angry and dismayed by unbalanced, unhelpful media coverage of the events of August 2011. This anger began with the reporting of the initial events that triggered the mass disturbances of August 2011, ‘This was the most recent example of how the machinery of the state and the media can work together to misrepresent facts surrounding a death at the hands of the police and the profile of the victim.’
A description is given in the report about how the misreporting of Duggan’s death, fed by the police and Independent Police Complaints Commission, played out.
‘Conference participants felt that big media tended to portray the disturbances largely as a conflict between black people against white business owners and that the voices of black business people who were affected by the riots were underrepresented in the mainstream media.’
They also criticised what they perceived to be the ‘racialisation’ of the riots by mainstream media like BBC TV that gave a platform to David Starkey’s controversial negative view of white young people becoming black and getting involved in the riots.
There are lots of positive practical plans in the report for the community and journalists to improve future coverage of such disturbances. These include community rapid response to correct bad reporting and ‘contact bases’ to be sent to news media to avoid ‘the same ‘rent a quote’ individuals always being interviewed, who may not in fact speak for the community they claim to represent.’ Huffington Post article Deborah Hobson 22 October 2012
August 2011: anarchy in the UK. A peaceful protest in north London resulted in scenes of destruction across England. Shops looted and buildings torched. Police officers, firefighters and journalists attacked. Thousands of rioters caused mayhem in city centres and suburbs. This is the story of the people at the heart of the riots. Riot: The Week England Burned, Channel 5 2022
Police had stopped Mark Duggan because they suspected he had a gun. In an altercation firearms officers opened fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene. ibid.
Tottenham is exploding into chaos. Police officers from around the capital are quickly dispatched to the area. And more firefighters are drafted in too as buildings, cars and a bus are set alight. ibid.
Lawlessness in Tottenham descends into looting. ibid.
Riots in Enfield, six miles away from Tottenham, is escalating. ibid.
Over the next two days the anarchy is about to get even worse. ibid.
Fires in many of the capital’s suburbs are burning out of control. ibid.
[David Cameron]: ‘These are sickening scenes. Scenes of people looting, vandalizing, thieving, robbing, and it has to be confronted and defeated.’ JimmytheGiant podcast: The Forgotten Riots that Almost Destroyed London
For 5 days straight in the summer of 2011 England turned into The Purge. This was an insane time to live through. ibid.
The biggest riots in modern British history. ibid.
Rumours very quickly started to circulate. ibid.
Very hard to pinpoint the exact moment it went from a peaceful protest into a full-scale riot. ibid.
A very different Britain that doesn’t get a lot of publicity. ibid.
‘Owen Jones: Why chavs were the riots’ scapegoats’. ibid. online article 01 May 2012
The next morning the nation woke up in shock. We were now getting reports of the aftermath of the riots: entire buildings had been burnt to the ground, 26 policemen were injured, 55 arrests were made, cars were set on fire, and shops were being looted. ibid.
These copy-cat riots were popping up in all parts of London. ibid.
The police officer was the one who shot the other police officer, and Mark Duggan hadn’t shot anyone. ibid.