I have been traveling in and out of the UK for the last two years and one of the first instructions that I received when I arrived here from India was that words like ´Blacks´ etc. are considered highly racist and any use of these words, however unintentional, is considered an insult.
However I was shocked to find the word ´Black´ being used by the most prestigious media corporation in the UK-BBC. During the pre-match discussion (or the news report, I fail to recollect), the reporter said that football in South Africa is considered predominantly to be a sport of the ´Black´ people! Also offending was the way they focused on African teams in the pre-match session.
The BBC reporter remarked how South Africa must try to make it to the best 16 teams in order to avoid becoming the first host team to be eliminated in round one. This would not have been considered offensive had they not followed it up with a special analysis of all the African nations that are playing the tournament and what were their possibilities of making to the next level.
After the match, BBC showed the reaction in a room packed with South African fans for 1. The South African goal, 2. The Mexican goal and 3. The Mphela miss in the 90th minute. All this, while the Mexican fans´ reactions were completely neglected and ignored. To me personally, it looked identical to an experiment where you take footage of the reaction of mice and guinea pigs to certain stimuli.
While it is understandable and justified to encourage new teams into the game and have special coverage of the host country and the enthusiasm there, it must not occur as the Big Brother´s arrogance that says ´See, this is where I am better and you have a long way to catch up kid! ´ or isolation of any ethnic group.
BBC is a leader in world media that sets very high standard for other new channels. As someone who has been a fan of the news channel for the last fifteen years, it was shocking to me that such things were observed in their World Cup coverage. Hope the English World Cup spirit does not take the better over their responsibilities to their global audience!
However I was shocked to find the word ´Black´ being used by the most prestigious media corporation in the UK-BBC. During the pre-match discussion (or the news report, I fail to recollect), the reporter said that football in South Africa is considered predominantly to be a sport of the ´Black´ people! Also offending was the way they focused on African teams in the pre-match session.
The BBC reporter remarked how South Africa must try to make it to the best 16 teams in order to avoid becoming the first host team to be eliminated in round one. This would not have been considered offensive had they not followed it up with a special analysis of all the African nations that are playing the tournament and what were their possibilities of making to the next level.
After the match, BBC showed the reaction in a room packed with South African fans for 1. The South African goal, 2. The Mexican goal and 3. The Mphela miss in the 90th minute. All this, while the Mexican fans´ reactions were completely neglected and ignored. To me personally, it looked identical to an experiment where you take footage of the reaction of mice and guinea pigs to certain stimuli.
While it is understandable and justified to encourage new teams into the game and have special coverage of the host country and the enthusiasm there, it must not occur as the Big Brother´s arrogance that says ´See, this is where I am better and you have a long way to catch up kid! ´ or isolation of any ethnic group.
BBC is a leader in world media that sets very high standard for other new channels. As someone who has been a fan of the news channel for the last fifteen years, it was shocking to me that such things were observed in their World Cup coverage. Hope the English World Cup spirit does not take the better over their responsibilities to their global audience!
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