How did the march in London go?

mickey,

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Lynn D

Long, lots of people (408,000) and tremendous atmosphere.

Absolutely appalling reporting across the whole BBC, no real response from Government and now sunk into silence due to Iraq which is all the news talks about at present.

I could weep! Possibly the largest ever civil rights demonstration in the UK. 407,791 people made their way across the country to be ensure their feelings were noted.

The next morning I turned on the national news at 8.00am. BBC TV and Radio did not even mention that it had taken place........but the results from the Emmys the night previously were considered newsworthy!

Welcome to democracy - and the power of he who controls the press. If it is not reported, it didn't happen. Period.

Welcome to the UK - possessor of the best government money can buy!

IanF

IanF,

Me too.

To answer the question as to why this sunk without trace on BBC's Today news programme I attach the Editorial from the Telegraph

'Wo wrote this? "you may...have forgotten why you voted Labour in 1997. But teh you catch a glimpse of the forces supporting the Countrysid Alliance Liberty and Livelihood March.: the public schooles that laid on the coaches; the fusty, belch filled dining rooms of the London clubs...; the Prince of Wales and of course Camilla... and suddenly rather gloriously, it might be that you remember once again."

The answer is Rod Liddle, Editor of BBC radio $'s the Today programme, in the Guardian yesterday. On it's 8am news bulletin the morning after the Sunday's 400,000 strong Liberty and Livelihood March, the Today programme failed to mention the march at all.

Bear this in mind when you hear all the furore over the Prince of Wales writing to the Prime Minister to protest about the plight of rural communities. The Prince may have been injudicious in expressing himself so forcibly but people should remember that the letter referred to was written in the spring and only leaked (in whose interests?) on the morning of the March. Besides as Jonathan Dimbleby points out on the page opposite Prince Charles is entitled to a private correspondance with ministers, and has written, often in critical terms, to ministers of both parties for more than 20 years. In these letters, an appropriate concern for the sufferings of the underdog whether rural, urban, black or white has been a consistant theme. His only faulty was naivete in the world of spin.

Mr Liddle on the other hand displays the most blatant of bias, animus and even party allegiance whilst running an important news programme for the national corporation whose charter insists on the absence of all three.

As a result of this bias, the BBCs most important political programme failed to report properly the largest march in British history. If 400,000 trades unionists or members of an ethnic minority or feminists had marched and Mr Liddle not reported it, he would assuredly and rightly have been sacked. Yet we can be sure that Mr Liddle's position this morning is secure.

There is something really terrible and shocking here, as there is in the Government's determination to ignore the March. The Guardian, no friend of hunting made the point very well in a leading article which appeared on Tuesday. It said that the March had done "what the Chartists, the Hunger Marchers and CND had failed to do" and mobilised huge numbers of "their peaceful presence" the paper continued, ".. entitles the protestors to respect both for their cause and their engagement". This is exactly right - repsect though not necessarily agreement. Civil peace and democracy really are endangered if honest, non violent and dedicated protestors - whether right or wrong - are treated with Mr Liddle's contempt.'

Makes me sick.

1894,

Let me be devil's advocate for a moment.

I have often wondered why motor racing such as Drag racing gets very little coverage in the Australian press, yet the attendances are huge. Much bigger than most football games. Cricket that is not international gets very small attendances out here, in the 100s, but gets good press coverage.

Often I have thought it might be due to the media not seeing Drag racing as a meeting point of pacificists. Sort of like Drag racing and Guns go together.

But I wonder if it is a case that people who go to the Drag races and people who go to the Gun March are in fact virtually everyone in the population who is interested.

On the other hand the union march and football game etc. might have much smaller attendances but the people who go only represent a very small proportion of those interested, hence the much large coverage.

By the way, our gun marches in Australia were at the time the biggest since the Vietnam marches. They were widely reported on TV that night and the papers the following days.

Mike