Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Busy ...

Busy ... a small post at B-BBC.

And a comment at CiF on the "what does this tell us about Austrian society" coverage of the case where a man kept his daughter imprisoned in the cellar while fathering seven children by her.

I think we can assume that if a big news story fits into an existing liberal narrative, we'll see "what does this tell us ?" rolled out. If there's no existing liberal picture frame for the story, there'll be no interest, and if the story fits into an existing right-wing narrative, media types will shy away from it like an alcoholic sighting a pink elephant. A simple rule, but seems to fit the evidence.

This sad tale of evil fits into the 'evil patriarchal family' picture frame and so will appeal to the people who keep "A Child Named 'what the *** are you looking at ?'" in the book bestseller charts. You see, they really do **** you up, your mum and dad !

Abu Ghraib fits the 'evil US imperialists' frame, the Walker and Lawrence murders the 'evil white racists' frame. On the other hand, a case like Kriss Donald's, the worst racist murder in UK history, has no framing narrative at all, and the Leneghan murder only fits into a far-right 'these sub-human beasts' narrative which all right thinking people would shy away from.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Indeed - On Monday I saw a bit of BBC news during the day. Earnest chat between studio and reporter in Austria (non-Beeboid) about how Austrian social services need to be more proactive, more like the UK! That the Austrians will have to abandon their notions of privacy etc etc.

I laughed out loud Im afraid.

Anonymous said...

It would be quite amusing (if it wasn't so serious). Fact is that the UK is the home of paedophilia and serial killers as far as Europe is concerned. An increasingly fragmented society where no-one cares what their neighbour is doing, and a growing underclass where people are too screwed up to care about their children is the perfect place for molesting children and getting away with it for years. Throw in the fact that there are no moral absolutes in British society, only moral relativity and you have the perfect recipe for "I can do whatever I fancy" thinking. A few years of that kind of thinking and pretty soon molesting kiddies is merely part of a good evening's entertainment for those suitably inclined. After all, if God can't tell you its wrong, sure as hell Richard Dawkins can't manage it.

JuliaM said...

The concept that 'society is to blame' and not merely the individuals themselves, or the lax judicial system, is spreading:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7372816.stm

Note the use of the familar phrases and themes - 'alternative subcultures', 'new legislation', 'raise awareness', etc.

"Mrs Lancaster said what happened to her daughter was not an isolated incident.

"I've been out with both Rob and Sophie and I've heard people verbally abuse them," she said.

"It's a hidden prejudice and hopefully the Sophie campaign will raise awareness of that.""


A hidden prejudice, expressed by verbal abuse in a public street...?

I have the utmost sympathy for this woman, but can't help feeling that precisely none of her suggestions will tackle the problem...

Anonymous said...

"…about how Austrian social services need to be more proactive, more like the UK!"

That made me laugh out loud. Social Services in the UK are anything other than proactive...especially when you disturb the "Emergency Duty Team" at midnight!

A few years of that kind of thinking and pretty soon molesting kiddies is merely part of a good evening's entertainment for those suitably inclined

Sadly this would appear to be the reality. Maybe it's just because I'm in role within an organisation that will naturally bring cases such as this to may attention, but I've lost count of the number of young people I've spoken to over the past year who want to talk anonymously and confidentially about their sexual abuse - very occasionally the might be brave enough to get the police and/or social services involved.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Laban

I was wondering why the wall to wall interest in the media

Anonymous said...

It is an astonishing and horrifying story, so no wonder the media are all over it.

But the very distinctiveness of that awful situation highlights what a good job the mum-and-dad nuclear family does in providing a safe environment for children the vast majority of the time.

Contrast this with the all-too-frequent accounts of abuse in children's homes, such as the horrors being revealed in Jersey.

Anonymous said...

The Left would have more credibility if they highlighted the enormously higher risk of abuse for children in single parent families with itinerant step fathers, rather than devour this story like a pack of starving dingoes.

Of course, as the aim of the Left is to undermine and finally destroy the nuclear family, pointing out in public the horrors that result from this would not be a good idea.

Anonymous said...

''It is an astonishing and horrifying story, so no wonder the media are all over it.''

So was the Kriss Donald murder
Were the media all over that?
were they f*ck
why was that?

Refer back to Laban's 'correct narrative' theory

Anonymous said...

Contrast this with the all-too-frequent accounts of abuse in children's homes, such as the horrors being revealed in Jersey.

Before you get too carried away, read this by Richard Webster