Hmm… remember this?
Today's tabloids express mock outrage at the appearance of N*ck Gr*ff*n on the BBC Question Time programme. But they have short memories.
Here's today's Star:
Hang on, though. Isn't that the same newspaper that did this?
and this?
The Express, meanwhile, is also clutching its pearl necklace, claiming that the party is going to get taxpayer-funded broadcasts at the next election. Not a big lead on Griffin, because there's apparently another twist in the Diana saga (and as ever the stock image of her wearing a seatbelt, which would have saved her life in the crash, nutjob neenaw whoop-whoop conspiracy or no conspiracy)
But it's got those because it's gained votes. I wonder why? I wonder which newspapers are read by BNP supporters? Maybe ones that say stuff like this
or this?
or even this?
And not forgetting the all-time classic:
Not some. Not five hundred. Not even a thousand. Not half. Not three-quarters. No. ALL. IN BIG RED FUCKING LETTERS SO YOU'RE MADE CLEARLY AWARE THAT IT'S ALL.
Hey, and please let's not forget this:
I almost didn't include this!
Which is almost the same as this!
But no. The Express doesn't like the BNP. They just happen to share entirely the same views on immigration, but Griffin is bad, because... well. I haven't quite worked out why he's bad. Maybe he doesn't hate Muslims enough for their tastes?
The Mail have also had a bash, but as ever they're more concerned with attacking their nemesis the BBC than they are about hand-wringing over Griffin:
Having said which, I still think
it's worth making the point
that the Mail doesn't always steer so far away
from using content
which the BNP and 'bigot' N*ck Gr*ff*n
might completely agree with
and it's not long
before you might start thinking to yourself
are they really protesting a bit too much? And what's the difference, really, between the BNP bigots and the supposedly mainstream newspaper which claims to distance itself from them so much?
And you have to start thinking: do these newspapers which select certain types of images of ethnic minorities and use them again and again
really have such different views or agendas from the likes of the BNP?
It's all very well people blaming Labour, or the BBC, or whoever, for the 'rise' of the BNP. But if there has been a significant increase in BNP support - and it hasn't translated into votes yet, despite a severe recession and growing unemployment - perhaps that might have more to do with the legitimisation and absorption of their extreme views by newspapers creating scare story after scare story concerning race and immigration, often baseless stories created simply to scare? It's one thing going to a BNP meeting but it's quite another to hear exactly the same thing over the breakfast table from a publication which purports to report the facts.
But no. It's all the BBC's fault. Let's blame them.
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October 24th, 2009 - 01:07
Would you like a picture of some kittens or a nice waterfall, maybe some soothing birdsong? – because if it does this to MY blood pressure I worry for yours. The Daily Fail makes me wonder about my liberal stance on the right to free speech.
October 24th, 2009 - 01:11
brilliant.Like the way you use the front pages to link the points of your argument.And this confirms why i never take the star seriously.Because you know its just so full of bullshit.
October 24th, 2009 - 01:37
Outstanding post.
October 24th, 2009 - 08:34
*applause*
October 24th, 2009 - 09:13
Nice illustration.
It'll be interesting to see if the press have much influence on public opinion regarding the BBC's decision to invite the BNP.
Via UK Polling report; "What has changed was attitudes to the BBC’s decision to invite Griffin onto Question Time. At the weekend 63% thought it was right, 23% wrong. Now the balance of opinion has shifted further in favour of the BBC’s decision, 74% thinking it was right, and only 11% wrong."
http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/2324
October 24th, 2009 - 11:47
This is one of the best blog posts I have ever read and you make your point perfectly.
The press in this country is pretty much unaccountable and it needs to be skewered like this.
October 24th, 2009 - 11:52
Absolutely love this post, thank you!
October 24th, 2009 - 11:52
You forgot about that "British Jobs for British Workers" that the one-eyed nutter cooked up.
And there's also all this.
October 24th, 2009 - 12:07
Great post
October 24th, 2009 - 12:08
Because talking about imergration is racist? Apparently that's not what the papers are talking about and its a race thing?
October 24th, 2009 - 12:09
Most excellent. There'll be broadsheet hypocrisy too I'll be bound. Rather than blaming Powell 1960, or 1967, or Maggie, or Labour, or useless Lib Dems or whatever for the rise of the BNP we must surely blame the putrid hate merchants in the populist press.
October 24th, 2009 - 12:10
It is the rampant stupidity on display that I cannot stand. Has much in common with creationists in the US 'it is so because I say it is so' and complete sense of humour bypass. Great images by the way. Star does make me sick though. All those shiny pink protuberances – reminds me of the butcher.
October 24th, 2009 - 14:11
Sorry, *chess* is an example of British culture? Better not tell them the etymology of 'checkmate', then.
Excellent post, by the way, nails it 100%.
October 24th, 2009 - 14:12
Wonderful stuff.
So much newsprint expended over trying to explain the rise of the BNP, when they only need print the four words 'It's because of us'
October 24th, 2009 - 14:32
Presumably then the reason the BNP is bad is because it isn't part of the official political Lab/Con/Lib monopoly. How dreadful.
Certainly couldn't be anything to do with Nazism since all 3 official parties voted to bomb Yugoslav hospitals to help unrepentent (former) Nazis still publicly committed to genocide in Croatia, Bosnia & Kosovo. All 3 approved providing our KLA hirelings with police uniforms & sending them, under our authority, to engage in massacres, ethnic cleansing, genocide, the sexual enslavement of children & the dissection of living people (admittedly Untermensch) to provide orgams for our hospitals.
Whatever one thinks of the BNP it is impossible for ANY honest person to suggest they are 1/1,000th as pro-Nazi as these parties, even Hitler didn't descend to dissecting living people.
October 24th, 2009 - 14:46
Firehorse, in regards to you worrying about how the Daily Sig-Heil makes you want to stomp out freedom of speech just to shut them up, I personally find peace of mind by claiming that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are different issues, because of the ability of the press to influence.
It's the only way I can think of even vaguely justifying banning the Mail from printing.
Amazing post by the way, you've achieved an excellent middle ground between funny and horrifying.
October 24th, 2009 - 14:52
Brilliant.
October 24th, 2009 - 16:34
Excellent post
October 24th, 2009 - 16:38
Oh my eyes!! They're burrrning!
seeing…too much…crap.(Faints)
October 24th, 2009 - 17:21
neil craig: Very interesting & detailed way to spectacularly miss the point. Well done!
October 24th, 2009 - 19:52
Well the Star/Express view is easy to understand. Proprietor Richard Desmond is very active in the Jewish Community (president of the Norwood Charity, for example). So it is easy to understand why his papers might have a downer on the Muslim community thanks for the examples.
The BNP don't like the Muslim community (hence the parallel with some of the Star/Express headlines). However, the BNP don't like Jews either – so they're not going to be on Richard Desmond's Christmas list.
Interestingly, the people who are most threatened by new immigrants are the immigrant-community-before-last. This is because those two groups are most likely to be in competition with each other (jobs, housing etc). If you look at London then this certainly is the case, it's just the inter-minority tensions don't get the same publicity as the white v non-white ones.
October 24th, 2009 - 20:38
Cock on. Love the contradictions and hypocrisy you're highlighting here.
October 24th, 2009 - 20:41
Splendid. Very good point at the end there.
I'm scared.
October 24th, 2009 - 20:41
Splendid. Very good point at the end there.
I'm scared.
October 24th, 2009 - 20:56
Thank you very much for your post! The mass-media's hold on people is scary – and anyone who calls it into question is…well…a nutter!
October 24th, 2009 - 21:44
You seem to have overlooked the fact that race, religion and migration are entirely distinct issues.
October 24th, 2009 - 22:00
Beautifully researched and spot on, but no need to go so far back, or indeed back at all. From Friday's papers alone…
Sun:
p.1 – "I'm the most loathed man in Britain (we couldn't have put it better, Mr Griffin)"
p.19 – "Machine-gun cops to patrol streets"
p.21 – "Huge bill on illegals"
p.31 – "5,000 brutes let off"
Daily Express:
p.1 – "BNP leader Nick Griffin is a disgrace to humanity: This is a dangerous and shameful moment for British democracy. A fascist party has been allowed to inveigle its way into the political mainstream. If it is not stopped in its tracks and driven back into the sewer from which it has emerged the vile BNP will push its warped agenda of racial purity to the limit, causing millions of loyal British people to live in fear…"
p.7 – "Want work? Talk Polish"
p.13 – "Not too late to get our own way on EU treaty", "Koran forbids what suicide bombers do", "All Greek to me in Glasgow" [columnist Frederick Forsyth]
p.15 – "Police 'ignore violent crime to hit targets'"
p.33 – "Repugnant rise of the bad girls"
p.35 – "Elderly feel abandoned and ashamed of this country" [letter]
Daily Mail:
p.1 – "Bigot at bay: Jeered, scorned and ridiculed… BNP boss squirms during his moment in the TV spotlight…"
p.2 – "Taliban fight 'will take 5 more years'"
p.19 – "Violent crimes that nobody is counting"
p.27 – "Factory staff wanted: must be able to speak Polish"
p.29 – "EU students vanish without paying fees"
p.41 – "Q: How do civil servants track down missing illegal immigrants? A: Hold a tug of war day, of course"
p.62-3 – "The Churchills at war"
…plus Richard Littlejohn, though without any inflammatory headlines this time
Daily Telegraph:
p.1 – "Griffin uses BBC to attack Islam and defend the Ku Klux Klan"
p.4 – "Five-year Afghan role, says general"
p.8 – "Police dismiss thousands of violent crimes", "Theft and burglary rising in recession, figures show", "Officers to carry machineguns in 'no-go' estates"
p.9 – "Vote ban breaches my human rights, says child killer"
p.14 – "Prayer tradition is scrapped"
p.15 – "Anyone for tug of war at the Border Agency?"
p.18 – "Factory workers wanted: must speak Polish"
p.23 – "Taliban turns to drive-by shooting"
p.27 – "How many more [immigrants] can we take?"
The Times:
p.1 – "Griffin caught in TV glare: Hostile reception for BNP leader inside and outside BBC studio"
p.3 – "Armed police to patrol crime hotspots"
p.23 – "Police choose to ignore thousands of violent crimes", "Increase in burglaries as the recession hits home"
p.25 – "Embarrassed Home Office tells staff they can't have time off for annual sports day"
p.37 – "'Polish-only' job advert complaint"
p.43 – "BNP must be heard" [letter]
p.44 – "Do starving Africans a favour. Don't feed them"
p.52 – "Confronted by danger and poor pay, police go over to the Taleban"
Independent:
p.1 – "The BBC gave him the oxygen of publicity. He choked"
p.11 – "Alarm at routine patrols by armed police"
p.14 – "'Afghanistan is not in a state of war': Ruling by immigration judges paves way for asylum-seekers to be returned"
p.17 – "Police failing to investigate violent crimes, says report"
p.18 – "Rapist escapes from court after guilty verdict"
p.22 – "Republican dissidents in bomb attack on TA base"
Guardian:
p.1 – "Question Time for BNP leader. His answer: 'I am not a Nazi' – Griffin grilled by studio audience – says Islam incompatible with UK – Holocaust explanation draws jeers"
p.12 – "Kaminski calls Miliband attack 'desperation'"
Evening Standard:
p.1 – "BNP will get free election broadcasts"
…oh, they covered the armed-cops story too, but amazingly, the only remotely dubious headline I could find was "Egypt overtakes European resorts for half-term sun"
October 24th, 2009 - 22:32
An excellent post!!
October 24th, 2009 - 22:38
Well EXACTLY. Reminds me of Russell Howard's take on The Daily Express: "DON'T GO OUTSIDE! It’s full of queers, blacks and crime! Oh, if only Diana was here."
It's a good rant – well worth a watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo0drBdU6lM
October 25th, 2009 - 10:29
Well stated case, thanks for this. Great post.
October 25th, 2009 - 10:31
It's always refreshing to know that there are other like minded rational people in this country, that can see past the mass hysteria of the press and TV.
October 25th, 2009 - 10:38
Are they genuine front pages from the Daily Star? Jesus Christ………
October 25th, 2009 - 10:48
It was my belief that the BBC was the last port of balanced journalism in the UK. Unfortunately, Thursday night proved that the BBC are also losing their way. Thanks for posting this.
October 25th, 2009 - 11:18
Extremely well illustrated and to the point. Some newspapers are a blight on our nation. Congratulations poster
October 25th, 2009 - 12:07
"Isn't that the same newspaper that did this?"
No. The Daily Star is not a newspaper. As I think you've proved.
October 25th, 2009 - 12:43
So when Griffin said he was the most hated man amongst Britain's Nazis he was actually referring to the newspapers?
October 25th, 2009 - 13:25
This is excellent. There's a reason they're called the Gutter Press. However, I worry that this blog might be preaching to the converted. And I wonder whether this time some have gone too far. They are jeopardising the right of the press to self-regulate.
October 25th, 2009 - 13:30
If "Massive Brooker Rip-Off" means "erudite, bombastic and laced with ironic humour", then you're right! Excellent post and so true it makes me cry!
October 25th, 2009 - 13:31
I've linked to this great article on our blog OneKernow: http://cornishagainstracism.blogspot.com/2009/10/uk-media-worse-than-bnp.html
October 25th, 2009 - 14:35
Great post Pete! Just what I would exect from the so called 'newspaper' Daily Mail though!
October 25th, 2009 - 19:44
Wasn't it the Daily Mail who supported the Nazis during the 1930s?
October 25th, 2009 - 19:44
Wasn't it the Daily Mail who supported the Nazis during the 1930s?
October 25th, 2009 - 19:52
PS:
A common mistake the media make about the BNP, is describing them as "far-right"…. neo-fascist or far-authoritan yes, but not far-right!
Properly speaking, "far-right" refers to viewpoints that advocate an entirely free market, completely deregulated– as of Friedman or other monetarianists.
The BNP want strigent controls on the economy and strigent controls on aspects of the market, the opposite of far-right (some of their views are to the left too– concerning social housing for instance))
I'm not sure where they'd come on the left/right scale they'd come, but not far-right.
It's also worth bearing in mind politics is not simply left vs right, but also authoritarian vs libertarian; confer the Nolan Chart, where the former axis is horizontal, the latter vertical.
The BNP is as authoritarian as you can get– that's where and why they are extreme and "far".
October 25th, 2009 - 20:24
Important point, brilliantly made. Thanks for that.
October 25th, 2009 - 21:46
It's good to see the racism of the tabloids demonstrated in this way, alongside Google ads for 'interracial romance'.
Hmmmm…
October 25th, 2009 - 22:57
I rather like the Google ads for 'interracial romance'. I keep hoping they'll turn up on BNP blogs.
October 25th, 2009 - 23:23
But ultimately it's just another form of racism (perhaps a more 'socially acceptable' form but still), people seeking people based on race. Who thinks this way?? Depressing.
October 26th, 2009 - 05:24
Wow. I think that may actually be worse than the U.S. media in some ways. certainly no improvement.
October 26th, 2009 - 11:24
Great post!
I agree with Steve regarding the political axis. It's not as simple as far-left or far-right, as is shown at http://www.politicalcompass.org
Take the test and see where your views are aligned: http://www.politicalcompass.org/test
October 26th, 2009 - 14:17
Just to further this seems the BNP are selling Mel Phillip's Londonistan via Excalibur. Dear oh me.