All those countries where incipient fascism is beginning to taint politics could learn a thing or two from Gujarats Banaskantha where a court indicted a mediaperson for his casteist writing
Clearly, Lady Thatchers claim that publi
city is oxygen for terrorists did not dampen the enthusiasm of the 800 journalists who sought passes for the trial of the Norwegian mass murderer, Anders Behring Breivik. The other point of note, made by a participant in a BBC programme, is that the public reaction would have been very different if Breivik had been an Islamist.
No doubt Osama bin Ladens followers feel as righteous as he does. Al- Qaeda means The Law. But there is no doubting the horror and repugnance with which the media should – and does – condemn the bloody acts of Muslim suicide bombers, mujahedeen guerrillas and Taliban terrorists. Ambivalence creeps in only when Europes political far right is concerned. With Ms Marine Le Pen, leader of the French National Front ( FN), scoring nearly 20 per cent of the votes in the first round of the presidential election and, more to the point, setting the agenda even for President Nicolas Sarkozy, this is no laughing matter.
Similar phenomena are reported from many European countries, placing the media in a dilemma. Newspapers and TV channels will be accused of censorship if they ignore these parties. They are in the business of making money by attracting as large an audience as possible.
But some might condemn coverage of the far right as pandering to incipient fascism.
There was uproar in Britain last October when the BBCalt39S Question Time programme featured Nick Griffin, head of the British National Party ( BNP) and a member of the European Parliament.
Critics pointed out that support for the FN doubled overnight after Ms le Pens father, Jean- Marie Le Pen, appeared on the leading political programme Lalt39Heure de Verite ( the Hour of Truth) in 1984 which is comparable with the BBCs Question Time. Playing on the name, Le Pen called the programme ” the hour that changed everything”. It boosted his popularity, and, say political analysts, helped to legitimize his views. The FN won 2.2 million votes in that years election, and Le Pen was invited to participate in more and more broadcasts.
Two years ago a young Americantrained academic teaching in Cyprus, Professor Antonis A Ellinas, appeared to reverse responsibility in his book, The Media and the Far Right in Western Europe: Playing the Nationalist Card, by arguing that mainstream politicians create opportunities for far- right parties by ” playing the nationalist card”. Most people would say that its the far right that forces the mainstream to take up emotive issues that obviously command votes even in liberal, secular societies by first playing identity politics, Professor Ellinas is less contentious in dealing with the media, acknowledging there is no uniformity. Sometimes the media gives excessive exposure to extremist parties, allowing them to capitalize on these opportunities; in other cases, they ignore them, blocking their entry into the system. Germanys media, for instance, is negative in its coverage of the new- Nazi NPD. But its difficult to avoid the appeal of ultra- nationalism. That became apparent in Britain in 1968 when the Conservative shadow defence spokesman, Enoch Powell, warned that if Afro- Asian immigration continued, ” Like the Roman, I seem to see the river Tiber foaming with much blood.” Edward Heath, his leader and later prime minister, sacked him, but the 45- minute speech was received with applause. British immigration officers demonstrated chanting ” Six, seven eight,/ We shall not integrate” and the next conservative party conference bristled with ” Donalt39t Knock Enoch!” placards.
The media responded unevenly. In his popular TV show, David Frost attacked Powell head on, accusing him of inciting race violence in a tense tête- à- tête.
But The Times, then Britains most respected paper, warned that Britons might have to reconcile t
