Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Never trust a media person, always verify

Is there a label for people who are constantly policing for signs of racism and when they think they have found it(even if it is not there), they righteously go "Gotcha!"
A white umpire blunders and gives a few wrong decisions against a brown team -it's Racism!(the last India-Australia cricket series in Australia).

A white man complains about customer service -it's Racism!

The moment I saw this in this morning's Times of India, I knew this was a reporter who had already a ready-made narrative in his head, whatever the facts.

andrew flintoff_false_chargeHere is the text-
Flintoff speaks out against immigrants

London: No stranger to controversies, Andrew Flintoff has made some stunning antiimmigration statements which may land the England all-rounder in fresh trouble with cricket authorities and
his potential sponsors. In an interview to GQ magazine, Flintoff blamed rap music for rising violence and said countries should be careful while promoting multi-cultural societies. “I have no problems with a multicultural society, I think that is to the benefit of the country. But you have to be careful what levels you take it to,” Flintoff said.
It annoys me when I phone a hotel receptionist in my own country and they don’t understand what I am saying because they don’t speak English,” he added.
The 31-year-old father of three also blamed rap music for the rising violence in the society. “I see Manchester on
a Friday night and I would be horrified seeing my daughter going to the bars,” Flintoff said. “There are places I wouldn’t go to now. You see these reports of stabbings, bottlings, shootings, and you think: ‘What is happening to this country?’
“I think rap music has a lot to do with it. It makes it sound cool not to conform, and to be violent. That’s why I think that sport plays such an important role,” he added. PTI


Andrew Bolt pounced on this first(he is, unlike me, paid to write)-

Cricket hero Andrew Flintoff suggests that when the English no longer speak English, immigration policies may have failed:

The all-rounder told GQ magazine that Britain’s immigration policies had failed. He added: ‘I have no problems with a multicultural society, I think that is to the benefit of the country. But you have to be careful what levels you take it to.

‘It annoys me when I phone a hotel receptionist in my own country and they don’t understand what I am saying because they don’t speak English

‘I think that’s wrong, it’s nothing to do with being politically correct or incorrect, it’s just not right.’

And how is this perfectly modest observation get sold by the Daily Mail?

‘Why can’t hotel staff speak English?’: Andrew Flintoff in bizarre anti-immigration outburst


So in the media la-la land expecting someone, a hotel receptionist in England for Chrissake!, to speak English is an "anti-immigration outburst".

That is why I live by this rule -
Never trust a media person, always verify.

(emphasis mine)

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